Darkness Awakens
by RaiynetheHedgehog
Summary: ON HIATUS. An ancient evil starts to arise, threatening more than one dimension. New faces are shown as they seek help from heroes that we are all familiar with. Will they be able to stop the darkness in time? Sonic/Blaze main couple. My 1st fic please read!
1. How Soon is Again?

Chapter 1

Gentle waves lapped against the shore, coming in and out with the tide as they rolled in and out in a soothing rhythm, not disturbing the peace that the place brought as the soft caws of seagulls sounded in the distance. The sun was setting on the horizon, a ball of glowing yellow and orange flame, painting the sky and clouds with splashes of red and pink and purple and fading into the deep blue of the night sky.

A lavender cat was sitting on the sand, with her knees brought up against her chest and her eyes closed as she drank in the smell of the ocean, the salty tinge that it left on the warm, caressing sea breeze. This was one of the only times that she could truly get lost in her own thoughts, without others looking at her or judging her, one of the only times that she could be herself.

Her golden eyes flashed open as a seagull suddenly let out a very large caw, and her eyes instantly darted around for danger, body instantly getting tense. When she realized that nothing was amiss, however, she closed her eyes once again and told her already slightly speeding heart that there was nothing to fear.

_I'm probably just a bit jumpy after that last fight with the Eggmen,_ she reasoned with herself as she remembered the last fight with the mad scientists, how they had nearly succeeded in creating ultimate chaos and destruction on her and Sonic's worlds.

Sonic.

She tried not to think much about him now, but it was almost impossible for her to not remember Sonic the Hedgehog. Everything about the blue hedgehog was fresh in her mind, from the way that he looked to his cocky attitude. She remembered how he had helped her fight the Eggmen, and she remembered how he had helped her slowly crawl out of her shell that she had built against herself and the world. The kindness that he and the others had shown to her, and the way that he always had a grin on his face, were hard to forget.

And every time that she thought about him, a new wave of pain would come and eat away at her chest, like a hole in her heart, like she always had slight difficulty in breathing every time that the fresh pain overcame her. It happened every time that she thought about him.

The cat opened her eyes again, and she saw that the sun has disappeared already over the line on the horizon, leaving only the clouds, tinged with light pink and purple, behind as a memory of it. The night sky took its place, the stars glittering brightly, surrounding a full moon, a perfect pearl surrounded by shining, sparkling stars on a background of a dark and velvety blue.

As she looked up into the night sky, once again, she ached with loss as she thought of him, how much she truly missed him. They both had been through so much together, had nearly died together, had felt fear and had protected their worlds and the sets of Emeralds from the clutches of Eggman and Eggman Nega.

One of the stars caught the princess's attention, the biggest and brightest one as it winked at her, beckoning her to notice its light, notice the way that it helped the moon give light to the world at night.

"Sonic," Blaze the Cat whispered into the night sky, as if the stars could hear her and answer her prayer, "please, come back…soon."

The star in the night sky that had caught her attention twinkled even more brightly than it had done before.

**AT THE SAME TIME…**

Clouds of dust suddenly sprang up in places that they weren't supposed to be in as a quick wind, a gale, swept through the moorlands. It made a quick veer to the right as it made a 90-degree turn and sped through the forest, tearing the leaves from trees because of the speed that it was traveling at. The world went by in a blur, a blur that could only be made into sense by a true speed demon. A streak of blue followed the wind wherever it went.

Sonic the Hedgehog was running at speeds faster than the speed of sound, and he enjoyed the rush that he felt at running, like he always did. The wind in his face, the sense of freedom that same when his feet hit the ground, quick and sure, and the feeling that he could do anything, he was invincible, nothing was impossible.

The adrenaline, the sudden rush of it as it pumped into his veins, never got old, and the exhilaration that he felt never seemed to become boring or tiresome. It was a good way to ease off his stress and just get lost in the freedom that he felt that he ran.

It was also a very good way to clear his head and to think about lot of other stuff that he didn't have time to think about before.

Others had noticed that he was a bit different this past month, ever since he had come back from her dimension after saving both of the dimensions once again. He was just…different than he had been before, a bit more serious, more thoughtful, and he wanted more time alone to run.

He missed her, and as he thought about Blaze the Cat, he felt two things shoot through him at the same time: sorrow, and some other emotion that he couldn't name. Something that longed to see her again, like happiness, but not quite, something different…

He hoped that he could see the lilac cat again, see her once more and look into her amber depths, and run with her and race, like they used to when there was free time and when they weren't fighting against the Eggmen for the time being. He had won most of the races, obviously, and at times, she had won, or they had tied, and he could barely hide his frustration from her, and she had just grinned at him triumphantly when she saw his slight frustration. She was the only female who could rival his speed, and she was proud of it.

Sonic shook his head, trying to remember what he was supposed to be doing. He had come out running for a reason, he remembered, but what was it?

Right, he was supposed to be looking for the last Chaos Emerald. After he and Tails had returned home using the power of the Chaos Emeralds and the Sol Emeralds, the Emeralds had scattered themselves once again. And he had to find them before Eggman did and plotted another evil scheme to take over the world and to create Eggmanland, an age of fear and chaos and destruction.

For some reason, he got the sudden feeling that something was wrong, that something was about to change. He didn't know how he knew, but the quills on his back started to tingle a bit and his body tensed slightly, like the way that it did before a fight that was going to happen, but this time, he wasn't sure what it was.

He shook it off. _Probably still a bit wound up after that last fight,_ he thought as he continued to dash faster than the speed of sound. Yes, that was probably why he was a bit jumpy. The last time that he and Blaze had fought the Eggmen, they had suddenly come without notice; neither of them had expected that they were truly behind the plot that's goal was to obtain the Jeweled Scepter and bring ultimate destruction by unleashing the Power of the Stars.

"Sonic!" he heard a voice call from behind him, a voice very familiar to him.

"Tails, what is it?" Sonic asked, slowing down to about sixty miles an hour from his previous speed of about seven-hundred-forty-eight. He realized that his feet had automatically taken him on the route towards Tails' workshop, and he nearly smacked himself in the forehead for his stupidity.

The orange fox had a panicked look on his face, and he was panting as he landed next to Sonic, making his twin tails stop rotating in unison as they waved out behind him, like they had minds of their own. He was glad that Sonic was near the workshop so that he wouldn't have to fly all over looking for him.

"Sonic, something's wrong," Tails panted, still out of breath. "And, before you ask me, I have no idea what it is. The six Chaos Emeralds that we have are acting up in a really strange way, like they did when Blaze's world started merging with our own."

"Do you think…maybe she's coming back?" the blue hedgehog asked, slight hope in his voice at the thought of seeing the lavender feline again.

"I…I don't really know," Tails admitted. "Yeah, it seems the same, but there seems to be something a bit different about it as well. Like…I don't know…it's just not exactly the same. It's a bit different, but, maybe she is coming back." The twin-tailed fox brightened up a bit at the idea of Blaze coming back; everyone missed her.

"We have to find the last Chaos Emerald," Tails said, reminding Sonic once again of his previous mission.

"I'll find it," Sonic said confidently. "There are a lot of places that I haven't checked yet that the Emerald may be in; let's just hope that Eggman hasn't gotten it."

"Yeah," Tails agreed. That was when he noticed that his best friend was looking slightly away after he had told him of the possibility of Blaze coming back to this dimension.

"Tails, maybe you should go back to the workshop and do some more research," Sonic suggested. "I'll keep on looking."

The younger boy nodded. "All right, Sonic," he replied, and then he flew away, spinning his two tails like helicopter blades to get him in the air, and flying off.

As Sonic ran, once again looking for the Emerald, that single thought, the hope that Blaze was coming back again, that he would see her once again, made him go even faster than his previous eight-hundred-seventy-three miles per hour.


	2. She's Back

Chapter 2

"Return the Sol Emeralds to me, Eggman Nega!" Blaze snarled.

Everything that had led up to this suddenly flooded her memory. It was all so fast, so quick and unexpected, that she had no time to react. The Sol Emeralds had been in their shrine, safe, and she had sat there, meditating, when he got the feeling of unease that she always did when there was evil. She had whipped around, and that was when the metal claw had appeared, taking the Emeralds and crashing through the roof as debris showered around her like colorful rain, and the only thing that she was able to do was jump and grab onto the claw. She had fallen off, but it was easy to follow, and this had led her to Eggman Nega's hideout.

"And what are you going to do about it, Princess, hm?" Eggman Nega taunted her from his safe little pod that he flew around in.

In her fury, her flames suddenly appeared on her skin, coating her in fire as they were released from their hold in her being. She couldn't hear anything but roaring of her fire and the blood that pulsed in her ears in her anger.

"I suggest that you scat, cat!" the mad, megalomaniac scientist said, then cackled evilly at her. It ended in a round of coughing, which made Blaze wince slightly.

"And how are you going to make me?" she challenged. She saw the faint glow that the Sol Emeralds were giving off, almost hidden away from her sight, and she suddenly dashed for them.

When she ran into something cold and metal was when she was forced to stop. She flew back from the impact, and she glared at whatever did this to her.

And she gasped.

Blaze had never seen a robot like this before, never built by Eggman Nega alone. She knew that when he worked with his counterpart from Sonic's dimension, Dr. Eggman, that they both could create huge, monstrous robots that were almost indestructible, and the only way that they could be beaten was if Sonic and Blaze had both gone into their special forms after absorbing the Emeralds.

But this robot…it was a monster. It was black and silver, glinting as the light from her flames danced off of it, and it was huge, almost as tall as the ceiling of the hideout, which was very high. One of its hands was composed of a spiked mace, and the other had a metal saw that made a whirring noise as it rotated quickly, threatening to slice whatever it came in contact with into two perfectly severed pieces.

"I can't believe that you actually fell for that, Your Highness!" Eggman Nega cackled mockingly. "You did not actually think that I was stupid enough to leave the Sol Emeralds in your sight, did you? I hope that E-seventy-nine takes that thought off of your mind!" He cackled again.

Blaze had barely any time to dash away from the robot as it slashed the saw at her. The cold, emotionless, glowing red eyes that stared at her made her slightly afraid, as the skin on her neck crawled as it looked at her, seeming to bore holes in her flesh. The next time it tried to hit her with the mace, but she barely escaped with her skin.

_It's time to go on the offense,_ she realized, and she slowly allowed fire to come to her palms and build up. Then, she unleashed all the flames from her hands, extending them out towards the robot as a pillar of fire shot out from her palms. Smoke started to appear from around the robot, and she had a small, triumphant smile on her face. She couldn't wait to see how Eggman Nega looked when he realized that his prize robot was reduced to nothing but a pile of molten metal and non-functioning parts.

When the smoke from the flames cleared, the robot was still standing, without a scratch on it, as if nothing had been done to it at all.

"What…?" Blaze said aloud, surprised. This had never happened before, the robots always had a flaw in them somewhere, but her flames hadn't even made a dent; in fact, the robot seemed to have gotten angrier and was attacking with more force, seeming to have the desire to kill.

"You see, Blaze, E-seventy-nine is a special robot," Eggman Nega explained to the cat as she was just dashing out of harm's way, just barely evading the attacks. "It is powered with some stolen energy from the Sol Emeralds, making it impossible to defeat."

"Says you!" Blaze shot back, and dodged the mace.

Now that she knew it was functioning with power from the Emeralds, she needed to know where that power source inside of the robot was so that she could destroy it and return the power to the gems.

But it was impossible to find. Every time she tried to get close enough to the robot to find its weak spot, it lunged the mace or the saw at her, and she knew that she wanted to keep herself in one piece. Eggman Nega watched the whole thing with an evil grin on his face, enjoying watching the princess barely escape the robot's attacks.

E-79 was getting more and more deadly with each attack. The saw and mace were getting dangerously close to Blaze, and she had barely enough time to run away before she would be crushed into a wall by the mace or severed into pieces by the saw.

She couldn't dodge the saw fast enough.

"Ah!" she exclaimed in pain, wincing as pain blossomed in her back, losing her balance for one moment before regaining it.

That one moment was all that E-79 needed to get her in the back with the mace.

The moment that she had gotten up was the second that she crumpled to the ground after the impact of the mace. The breath whooshed out of her body, and her vision suddenly got fuzzy as faint spots appeared in front of her eyes and the world faded from back to white and turned upside down and right-side up. Blood was pouring out of the deep slash from her back, creating a pool around her, and she ordered her body to get up, but it was out of her control now. Her muscles didn't listen to her, even when she heard the horrible whirring sound of the saw close to her ear, ready to slice her in half.

"I think that she's learned her lesson, E-seventy-nine," Eggman Nega said to his robot, and it pulled back like a faithful dog. "Now that she's out of the way…" He turned around to look at the Sol Emeralds again, the beautiful gems that would bring him ultimate power. They were glowing fiercely, and Eggman Nega suddenly realized what was happening.

"But…but how! They were completely stable the last time that I had checked on them…!" His panicked voice reached Blaze's ears, and she struggled to get up, only to fail, falling once more. She looked up, and she saw the pure white glow that had started to emanate from the Sol Emeralds, and she had a small smile on her face as she knew what was happening.

The hemisphere of light was growing, nearly filling the whole room. And as the pure white brightness engulfed her, Blaze's world faded away into dizzying, never-ending darkness.

**LATER…**

When the bright circle of white light appeared in the afternoon sky, Sonic was confused. Last time he checked, the sun wasn't white, and it certainly didn't look this big, and he didn't think that it slowly grew in diameter.

Curious, he ran over there, under the circle of pure white light.

And when a figure started to fall from it, he shook his head to clear it. He smacked himself to make sure that he was awake, that this wasn't a dream, because he thought that the figure was very familiar.

On an impulse, he jumped, catching whatever it was, and when he looked at it, his hopes were confirmed.

_So she did come back,_ he thought.

"Don't worry, Blaze," he whispered, knowing that she wouldn't hear but not caring about it. "You're safe now."

Just as he spoke, her eyelids flickered, as if his voice was calling her back from the realm of unconsciousness. She let out a small, slight moan, almost unnoticeable, and then her eyes slowly fluttered open, revealing her amazing, scintillating golden eyes. They soon focused on Sonic's own emerald green ones, and she gasped.

"Sonic?" she asked, doubting her senses.

He wore his trademark grin on his face. "Yeah, it's me."

Blaze's mind still had to register this, that Sonic was here, that she was in his world once more, that she was feeling his arms around her as he carried her.

"Sonic!" she exclaimed happily, throwing her arms around his neck as feelings that she rarely felt flowed through her. "I can't believe it! This is probably only a dream, so I'll probably wake up in a few moments."

"Well, if this is a dream, then we both are having the same crazy one," Sonic said. "And if it is, then I don't ever want to wake up."

"Neither do I," Blaze agreed with him softly, and she continued to embrace him as she closed her eyes in peace as joy flooded through her.

Sonic ran even faster than he had been before, and that was when he felt the blood on his palm, and he saw the red blood that was on Blaze's back, giving off its strange, eerie smell.

"Blaze, what happened?" he asked her.

"I got into a fight with Eggman Nega," Blaze replied, remembering the wounds that she had gotten as the pain hit her on full force, the adrenaline rush that she had felt as seeing Sonic again slowly waning. "He had all seven Sol Emeralds, and he had this huge robot that was almost impossible to defeat, and then the Sol Emeralds acted up, and I guess they sent me back to your world."

"We should tell Tails about this; maybe this was why the Chaos Emeralds were acting so strange lately," Sonic suggested. As he continued to carry the lilac feline, she didn't make any protests for him to put her down.

**AT TAILS'S WORKSHOP…**

"Blaze!" Tails exclaimed happily, running up to her as Sonic gently placed her on the ground, giving her a hug.

"We thought that you were coming back!" he continued excitedly. "The Chaos Emeralds were acting up like they had been before you came, and now you're here! Everyone really missed you, so now you get to see everyone again!" He automatically started to fly in excitement, his tails acting on their own as they rotated and he hovered above the floor.

Sonic and Blaze shared a grin. Her wound was slowly healing, and the pain was slowly going away, so it wouldn't interfere with her reunion any more.

"So, that's why they were acting up, bud?" Sonic asked his best friend.

Tails suddenly got a thoughtful look on his face, and he turned back towards the Chaos Emeralds. And then his eyes widened.

"That was only part of it, Sonic; they're still acting up slightly, like someone else is coming from Blaze's world, or someone else is coming from a new world entirely," the fox said, a bit confused.

"That's weird," Sonic said thoughtfully. "I mean, the Sol Emeralds were probably transported to this dimension already, so how could someone else come here besides Eggman Nega, because he was caught in the blast?"

"That is not the only solution, Sonic," Tails said, getting slightly worried. "Remember the other choice that there was."

"You don't actually mean that…" Blaze's voice trailed off in surprise.

"You're saying that someone from another dimension could be coming here?" Sonic asked, to be sure.

Tails looked at him, his face suddenly grave. "Yes, Sonic, that's exactly what I'm trying to say."


	3. Another Dimension?

Chapter 3

Storms that were like this were completely unnatural and were caused by The Darkness.

No one knew what to call it; the people of Vulpix had never known the true name of The Darkness, they just knew that it was their greatest enemy. Violent storms would attack their world: hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes, and more. And the storms were becoming more and more frequent and more and more powerful.

The Darkness was slowly getting stronger by the day.

There was no hope left for the people, it seemed. They all believed that The Darkness would destroy them all, that they would all eventually die and be wiped out from the violent storms. Why The Darkness wanted to destroy them, nobody knew.

They just knew that it was a threat.

This storm, this one was extremely violent, a massive combination of a lightning storm and a tornado and a hurricane and a blizzard. And this storm was the one that was destroying the world, literally. The Darkness had gotten so powerful that it was now able to tear the planet apart, piece by piece, by crumbling the core of the planet and making the rest of it just fly away, fragments in space. This storm was the last one that any of the people would ever know.

As it destroyed more, The Darkness grew more and more powerful, as if it was feeding off the ruins that it created. The world was crumbling away into cold fragments of rock that were unsuitable for life.

Only three remained, three who protected their world from harm. They were on a mission to stop The Darkness, because it had moved to another world after it destroyed their home; they would warn the inhabitants of the different dimension, and seek help from individuals called Sonic the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat, and others called Shadow the Hedgehog and Knuckles the Echidna and.

The three each had different abilities, and they were the last survivors; everything else had been turned into nothingness, had faded away into oblivion, after The Darkness destroyed their planet and was going to terrorize another.

Lance the Hedgehog was the eldest of the three. He was a hedgehog with gray fur that seemed almost silver with sky blue highlights accenting his quills. His dark blue eyes were very interesting indeed; they were a deep blue, but they had flecks of sky blue in them that made it look like the ocean, with the darker parts the deep depths and the lighter parts the areas were sunlight glinted off the surface, showing the aspects of the undulating sea. He had a generally kind and caring nature, but he was a fierce protector of his world and would do anything to stop evil from coming upon it. His talent was the special ability, the gift, to wield the sword. He was an expert swords master, and he used his talent to bring peace to the world.

The next youngest—only younger than Lance by a year, though—was Aria the Cat. She was a cat with lovely sea-green fur, with patches of even darker sea green on the tips of her loose hair and on her tail. Her eyes were a pretty reddish-violet, like one of the colors of the sunset, framed with long lashes. She wore a dark green dress that was sleeveless and came down to up to the middle of her thigh, and the dress was framed with black, like an intricate floral design on her straps. She was also very kind and caring and very soft-spoken, but she had the special talent of singing. Her voice was the most beautiful that could be imagined, like that of one of the sirens from Greek mythology. Almost anyone would do anything that she wanted, like how the sirens were able to make the men throw themselves into the sea to hear their lovely songs; with a song, she could make most enemies calm down. She, though, never abused it; in fact, she thought that it was a cruel way of everyone doing what she asked for, without even intending to at certain times. She even thought that her own power was stupid, but she used it nevertheless.

The youngest out of the three, but not too young, mind you, was Rose the Fox. She was a fox with a single, fluffy tail, and reddish-pink fur, like a cherry color of sorts, and the tip of her tail was white. Her straight hair was tipped with darker red, which accented her amazingly pale green eyes. The green was not emerald green, it was more of a summer green, the color of grass on a bright day with the sun shining down on it. Her clothing consisted of a dark, deep red dress that was long-sleeved and traveled down just below her knees. Her special talent was the ability to make plants grow. She was able to call upon the earth and the soil and make plants appear from just about out of nowhere at all, like they had suddenly materialized from thin air. She also helped plants grow, and before her home had been destroyed, everyone asked her to make their daisies perk up a bit or to coax their morning glories into opening up for a bit longer than usual. She was somewhat shy, but if you offended her or any of her friends, you would be in big trouble

These three were sent on the mission to stop The Darkness before it was too late. Before it came into another dimension and destroyed it, and before it had all of the worlds at its mercy.

So, before any of them were able to think about it, they used the spaceship which was powered up on the mystical energy from the Chaos Emeralds in Sonic the Hedgehog's world, safely stored away generations ago to be used for this purpose, and hoped that the power of the gems would bring them to their saviors.

**BACK AT TAILS' WORKSHOP…**

"You can't possibly be saying that another dimension is coming into this one, can you?"

Tails looked at the blue hedgehog after he asked the question. "Sonic, that is the only logical explanation on why the Chaos Emeralds are acting up. If it was only Blaze that was coming, then they should've stopped acting so strangely by now; but they haven't stopped, so this must be it."

It was a bit much to be hit with, after considering the fact that Blaze had just come from her world as well after a fight with Eggman Nega. And it was nearly impossible for them to believe.

But, as they had learned from experience, nothing was ever impossible.

"What're we gonna do, Sonic?" Tails asked, slightly afraid. "What if this is even worse than before, what if another dimension is trying to merge with ours once more and make it fade away into nonexistence, trying to alter the fabric of reality? What if there's a really big problem at hand?"

"Well, then, we'll just deal with it," Sonic replied, rubbing his nose, the way that he always did. "And, now that we've got Blaze with us, things'll be even easier." He flashed her a grin.

And Blaze grinned back, because she couldn't help it.

"Should we tell others about this?" Tails said. "Maybe Knuckles would be able to help out somehow, or maybe even Shadow…"

"Knuckles, maybe," Sonic said thoughtfully.

"Shadow may help, too," Blaze said, and both of the boys turned to look at her with surprise clearly visible on both of their faces. "Well, I _did_ spend time in your world with other people, you know," she explained. "I met Shadow, and I guess that you could say that we've become really close, almost like brother and sister. At times, I consider him my elder brother and he thinks of me as his younger sister. I'm sure that Shadow would help, for my sake if not for yours."

Both Sonic and Tails agreed; when Shadow was around Blaze, they had noticed that he was a bit more open with her, treating her with more kindness and warmth than he usually did with others. Maybe it was because they both were so much alike, because they both had felt similar losses, that they both had made similar walls against themselves and the world outside of them, afraid of letting other into their life, in fear that they might get hurt.

"Well, should we go pay Knuckles a visit, then?" Sonic suggested, wearing a grin.

"You and Blaze should go; I'll stay here with the Emeralds so that I can report any of the changes to you," Tails said to them.

With a nod and a grin that was exchanged between the cat and the hedgehog, Sonic instantly challenged Blaze in a race to Angel Island.

And after the words, "Three…two…one…_GO!_" were heard, there was no trace of either of them except a small dust cloud and a slowly diminishing trail of thin purple flames.

**ELSEWHERE…**

He had sensed the change the instant that it had come about. He knew that Blaze was back, and he also knew that there was something else amiss with the whole situation.

Shadow the Hedgehog had his arms folded across his chest as he looked across the vast deserts that he had sensed the strange presence in; this was where Blaze had landed when she had come to this dimension again.

Shadow allowed himself a small smile as he remembered Blaze. She had reminded him of himself slightly, and they had gotten off on a slow start, but it was soon obvious that they became very close, like siblings. Around her, the normally taciturn ebony hedgehog opened up slightly, talked more, grinned more, even laughed a bit. He had told her many of his secrets, and she had told him hers, and they agreed to keep each others' secrets secret.

He looked around, trying to get lost in his thoughts as he thought about what else was wrong with the situation. There was something, something that he couldn't quite put his finger on; it was like a charge in the air, a jolt of electricity through the sky, that said that there was more to come.

What it was, he didn't know.

Shadow continued to look around, closing his eyes, gathering the thoughts that were slowly starting to form in his head.

_There's something wrong with the Chaos Emeralds. They had acted up because Blaze was coming, and now she's here; I need to stop by to see her, she's probably staying with Sonic or Tails or Vanilla. But there's something else as well, like another power from another dimension, like…an evil of some sorts, like a strange surge of power suddenly appearing. It's clearly affecting the Chaos Emeralds, that's why I can tell, but what is it doing to them, exactly?_

_Guess I'll have to find out._

He started to run, in his wake leaving noting but a black and red streak and clouds of dust springing up behind him, quickly diminishing, soon vanishing without a trace.

**ON ANGEL ISLAND…**

Knuckles really wasn't used to the blue hedgehog popping by for a visit, so when Sonic appeared he knew that something was probably wrong and that the world was probably at stake right now. And when he saw Blaze, he was even more sure that his assumptions were correct.

"Well, what's wrong?" Knuckles said immediately, almost as if seeing someone from another dimension, like Blaze, was something that he did every day and nothing was new.

Blaze rolled her eyes slightly at the red echidna. "It's nice to see you again, too, Knuckles," she said, making the sarcasm completely evident in her voice as she spoke to him.

"So, Sonic?" Knuckles asked, almost as if he didn't hear her comment, which made the tip of the lavender cat's tail twitch slightly in annoyance.

"Something's up with the Chaos Emeralds, and we think that it has something to do with a different dimension entirely," Sonic explained. "We're not exactly sure what's gonna happen, but there might be something bad; there might be a fight or something, and we need all the people we can get."

"So, you're asking me to come with you?" asked Knuckles, to clarify.

"Just about," Sonic replied.

"Sonic—" He didn't get to finish his sentence directed to the blue blur, because the flash of white light that was streaking over all three of their heads had caught their attention. It was traveling extremely fast, like a comet in the daylight, leaving a trail of white behind it as it zoomed across the sky, streaking the normally light blue sky with the white.

No words had to be exchanged between them, because, on instinct, they all followed the strange streak.

They continued to follow it until it crashed, which wasn't that much farther than they had been originally. It was now in a vast desert, and, much to their surprise, Shadow was there, and they almost collided as they followed the comet.

"Shadow!" Blaze exclaimed happily, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug.

The black hedgehog returned the embrace warmly. "It's nice to see you again, Blaze," he said to her, unusually soft. "I missed you."

At this, something suddenly shot through Sonic, something strange that he didn't have a name for at first, but he knew that it was spiteful and cruel and cold and almost unfeeling, like he wanted harm to come upon his look-alike. It seemed to fester away at his conscience, and eventually, he realized the emotion that he was feeling and was able to give it a name.

It was jealousy.

It left almost as quickly as it came, just for a fleeting moment, but it had still happened. Sonic was back to normal the moment that Blaze and Shadow let go of their hug, and they all turned, where the meteor had finally crashed on the ground.

Just inches away from the four was a pod, a small spaceship of sorts, that had landed and brought up clouds of sand, making the sides become piled up with newly formed sand dunes. Yes, they were surprised, but not nearly as surprised when a door opened, and three people stepped out, a hedgehog, a cat, and a fox, all perfectly awake and intact.

The silver-furred hedgehog, who had light blue streaks in his quills, seemed to be the eldest, about Sonic's age, fifteen, and the leader of the three. The sea-green cat with the interesting red-violet eyes seemed to be the next oldest, fourteen, about Blaze's age, and the fox with the cherry fur and the single, fluffy tail seemed to be the youngest and couldn't be any older than Amy.

For a while, all the newcomers did was stare at the blue and ebony hedgehogs, the lilac cat, and the red echidna, and the four returned the gesture, interest obvious in both of the parties' faces.

And then the silver hedgehog spoke.

"Are you Sonic the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat?" he asked. "And are you two Shadow the Hedgehog and Knuckles the Echidna?"

On an impulse, Sonic was already discreetly placing his hand in front of Blaze in a defensive position, gently shielding her body with his. "Yeah," he answered, his voice slightly guarded, "now who are you and what do you want?"

The gray hedgehog exchanged glances with the two females, and he once again spoke. "My name is Lance the Hedgehog," he said.

"I'm Aria the Cat," the cat with the sea-green fur and intoxicating eyes introduced herself.

"And I'm Rose the Fox," the little for said, her tail curling upwards apprehensively.

As the four continued to stare, cautious, the silver hedgehog, Lance, went on. "We were sent here from another dimension to bring you a warning. Our home has already been destroyed by The Darkness, and if it isn't stopped, the whole universe will die. And you, Sonic the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat and Shadow the Hedgehog and Knuckles the Echidna, are the last hopes for the galaxy, for the universe, and for the entire world as we know it."

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**HEYYY! THIS IS THE THIRD CHAPTER IN MY STORY I HOPE THAT I'M NOT DISAPPOINTING ANY OF YOU. PLEASE REVIEW BECAUSE I NEED YOUR OPINIONS ON MY STORY! ALSO PLEASE TAKE IT EASY ON ME BECAUSE THIS IS STILL MY FIRST STORY AND I NEED IDEAS AND SUCH. SO IT ENDS IN A KIND OF CLIFFY, I HOPE IT'S NOT TOO BAD. PLEASE, IF YOU LIKE OR DON'T LIKE, JUST TELL ME BECAUSE I NEED ALL THE OPINIONS I CAN GET!**r bod


	4. Questions and Answers

Chapter 4

Amy was becoming fed up with Sonic, her irritation growing more and more at the blue hedgehog. He had said to her that he would be back from his run at exactly 2 p.m. sharp, and it was already 2:09. When he finally did come back to see her, she already had a piece of her mind ready for him, as she got her Piko-Piko Hammer in her hands.

Why was he taking so long? Usually, he was only two or three minutes late, but it was already ten minutes. The only logical explanations that the pink hedgehog could draw was that he had either gotten held up by something, like a last minute stop at Tails and the eager fox showing him another one of his many inventions and machines, that he was seeing Knuckles (though Amy had no idea why he would go there, but sometimes he did weird things like that), or that he just simply lost track of time and was careless and forgot the time that he had said he would return.

"Where is he?" Amy asked aloud.

"Amy, I'm sure that Sonic has a good reason why he's not back yet," Cream the Rabbit assured her best friend. She didn't want Amy to get angry, because when she did, it wasn't a good situation.

"Oh, but he's taking so long!" Amy complained, hating how whiny her voice sounded. She looked out the window, hoping to see the streak of blue running towards the house.

Instead, she saw a streak of white light in the sky, like a comet, a shooting star, in the afternoon.

_That,_ she thought, _is probably something important, and probably why Sonic isn't back yet. _

Obviously, Sonic was probably chasing that thing down; no wonder he wasn't back yet. He would come back the moment that this whole matter with the strange comet was resolved.

"Cream, why don't we go to the flower garden?" Amy asked, realizing that it would probably take a while.

The little rabbit's face lit up in a smile. "Yeah!" she exclaimed happily, and with that, they left the house and started to go towards the flower garden, and Amy knew that Sonic would eventually come back for her and tell her what the comet was.

**ELSEHERE, ABOUT FIFTY MILES AWAY OR SO…**

"_What!"_

Sonic, Blaze, Shadow, and Knuckles all exclaimed the exact same word at the exact same time, after hearing what they had just heard from these people who had come from another dimension.

"What the _heck_ do you mean by 'last hopes for the galaxy'?" Sonic asked, confused. "Really, that's a lot of pressure to put on four people."

Aria, the sea-green cat, stepped forward. Her moves were graceful, almost like a dance, much like the way that Blaze walked; maybe all cats had natural grace or something. "The Darkness destroyed our home," she said, her voice quiet, gentle, almost like a whisper on the breeze. All four of them seemed mesmerized by her voice, it was like it was pulling them in, putting them into a trance, allowing her to do whatever she wanted with them, like they could immediately stand on their heads and juggle batons with their feet if she told them to. "The Darkness is unlike any evil you may have encountered before, ever, because it is relentless, and it knows no mercy. It creates storms that ravage the world, making it weaker and weaker, preparing for the ultimate one that will destroy the world and turn it into just lifeless pieces of rocks as it breaks the planet, scattering it out to space. Lance, Rose, and I were the last survivors from our world, because The Darkness had destroyed it, and our mission was to find you four and seek your help and warn you that The Darkness is coming here and will destroy this planet when it gains enough power."

"So, you're saying that this 'Darkness' is going to wipe us out, and that we're the only ones who can stop it?" said Knuckles.

"Well, we really were supposed to be looking for Sonic the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat," Rose, the small fox, said, slightly shy. "But we were also told to ask for the aid of Knuckles the Echidna and Shadow the Hedgehog if we could."

"Our home is destroyed, and we have no place left to go," Lance said quietly, consumed by the loss. "We came here to warn you so that another dimension won't fall to The Darkness, and to ask for your help in fighting this horrible menace."

"What _is_ The Darkness, exactly?" Blaze inquired, still slightly cautious of these newcomers.

"No one knows," Aria replied, looking at the lilac cat with obvious interest in her eyes. They almost looked exactly alike, except for the fact that their eyes and fur were different colors, that Aria wore a dress and had her hair loose, and that Blaze wore white pants and a jacket with her hair in a high ponytail. Blaze discreetly looked back at her, looking at her out of the corner of her eye, not as directly as Aria was towards her. "But," Aria continued, still looking at Blaze, "we do know that it is completely evil and wants to eventually take over the whole universe."

Shadow had been quiet this whole time, summing the newcomers up. Lance, the silver hedgehog, seemed strong enough, and looked like he'd been in more than one fight. Rose, the little fox, didn't seem like she had gotten much battle damage but she still had a normal defensive posture as she looked at them, like it was more of second nature to her, instinct, than her being completely aware of what she was doing. And Aria, the cat…well, the first thought that completely had registered in his head about her was that she was beautiful, but then he had shaken that out of his head and summed her up as well, noticing the way that she calculated all four of the residents of this world, seeing if they were threats or not.

_They seem to know what it's like to be in a fight,_ Shadow thought, giving them slight approval, and then listening to the conversation as it continued.

"If The Darkness destroys this world, then all hope will be lost," said Lance.

"How did you guys survive?" asked Sonic curiously.

"Well…we aren't exactly completely normal," Lance admitted, a bit awkwardly. "The three of us were gifted with special talents ever since we were born; I guess that we were born different."

"Really," Blaze said, not believing it. She knew what being born different was like: for her, it hadn't been nice at all. It had been pain and sadness and grief and loneliness, not feeling wanted or needed, feeling completely useless and unwanted, even though she was a princess. She had felt that she could never get away from disapproving eyes; she felt like she was trapped; she felt like she was hated, loathed…all this had been dumped on her because of her flames, because she was a monster, a freak, someone that could potentially hurt another without realizing it. At times, she wished that she was just a normal girl, and she wouldn't've gone through everything she had gone through, she would've had a normal life. She would've had friends, love family…everything that she didn't have before.

She tried not to think about it anymore.

"I," Lance continued, "was born with the gift to wield the sword. It came naturally to me, and I…guess I'm somewhat a master."

"Oh, don't be so modest," Aria said, with a slight purr noticeable in her voice. "He's the best swords-master that ever probably lived," she told them, while Lance tried to shush her, telling her to be quiet as a slight blush creeped up his cheeks. "It was like he was born knowing how to use the sword, and he'll never be able to leave a place without it; he always has his sword with him, in its sheath or in his hands, like a security blanket of sorts." Just then, the others noticed the black strap that went from Lance's right shoulder to his left hip, and the sword handle that was showing from the sheath.

"I don't exactly have a power, I can just sing really well," Aria added, her voice betraying her self-consciousness.

"Now _you're_ the one who's being modest," laughed Rose, as she contributed to the conversation. "Aria has the best singing voice ever heard, and, just by singing a song or hearing her voice, someone can be manipulated into doing what she wants; she can even control your emotions sometimes, calm you down when you're angry or give you comfort when you're sad; even deadly enemies can suddenly stop if she orders them to, or, even better, they can work for us." During the whole thing, Aria looked down, suddenly interested in the ground.

"And I have the power to grow plant life," Rose said. "I can make the plants grow more, make them perk up, and also make them grow out of almost nothing, just the air, and I need to focus. And the plants seem to like me; I can manipulate almost every plant to do what I want it to do when I want it to do something, and they don't mind, they trust me. It's kinda…weird."

Silence, just the sound of the wind, was heard after they explained everything, as the other four processed the information. These strange newcomers did, in fact, have "powers" of their own.

"When will The Darkness arrive?" Shadow asked, speaking to them for the first time.

That was when Aria looked at him, almost like she was noticing him for the fist time, and their gazes locked. In that one instant, Shadow suddenly knew that he wanted to know the sea-green-furred cat even more, and Aria knew that she wanted to get to know more about that mysterious, silent ebony hedgehog as his ruby eyes met her own.

"We don't know; we estimate that it'll reach this world in about six months, or less," said Lance. "We got here so quickly because there was a stash of energy from the Chaos Emeralds locked away in a spaceship, and don't ask me how we got the energy, because I have no idea how we did. The Darkness will probably have a hard time in finding a power source that great to bring him to a different dimension, so we have the advantage of time."

"This guy sounds a lot tougher than Eggman and Eggman Nega combined," Sonic said under his breath, directing it to Blaze. She was the only one who heard his comment. "You think that they might try to strike up a bargain with The Darkness?"

"I don't know, but a thought like that will probably cross their minds at some point when they hear about this," Blaze replied, her slight worry and anxiousness slightly straining her voice. "Then what?"

Sonic grinned. "Then, we just beat them like we do all the time."

Blaze rolled her eyes, but she couldn't resist grinning back at him.

"Well," he said, turning away from her and facing the three newcomers, "you guys need a home base, since it sounds like your world is totaled. I think that you guys can hang with us."

"What do you mean, _us_? Do you mean you four?" Aria asked.

"No, he means with Tails at his workshop or at Vanilla's house," Knuckles replied. "I stay on Angel Island to guard the Master Emerald, and Shadow just goes off on his own somewhere."

Shadow glared at the red echidna, his own ruby red eyes seeming fiercer when he was angry. "It's nice to know that I have someone else to speak for me, so now I don't have to explain anything about myself," he said, angry and annoyed.

Knuckles backed away, slightly scared. "Ah…sorry about that, Shadow," he said.

Blaze went over to Shadow, gently touching his hand with her own. That small gesture made the ebony hedgehog calm down, but he was still tempted to throw a Chaos Spear at that hot-headed Knuckles to teach him a lesson and maybe shut him up.

"So, what do you guys say?" asked Sonic, with his trademark grin. "You comin'?"

The three exchanged glances with each other, and they nodded.

"Cool," Sonic said, giving them a thumbs up. "And, also, I think that we should all meet up in about a month, just in case The Darkness comes early or something like that, so we can be prepared; also, just to see you guys again."

Knuckles nodded, whereas Shadow just blinked. Blaze knew that he was going to visit them before the month was due, because she knew that he was going to come and see her at times.

"All right, then, let's go. I suggest that you hold on to either mine or Blaze's hands," Sonic grinned, as he and Blaze exchanged a sly glance with one another.

"I'll see you later," Shadow said to Blaze as Knuckles ran back to Angel Island to continue guarding the Master Emerald.

Blaze nodded, and she saw the way that his gaze kept on flicking towards Aria and watching her, and she also noticed that she kept on stealing glances at the hedgehog. She laughed inside, knowing that she was not he only reason why Shadow was going to come and visit.

Sonic grabbed both Lance and Rose's hands, and Blaze grabbed Aria's. Before she dashed off, the cat with the sea-green fur smiled at the other lavender-furred cat.

Blaze smiled back, suddenly having a premonition that she and Aria were both going to become great friends.

**WHEN THEY GET BACK TO TAILS' WORKSHOP…**

Amazingly, when Sonic showed up, Amy didn't run and hug him like she normally would have, because she saw four new people, and she only recognized the lilac cat.

All five of them went into the workshop, where there was Tails, Amy, and…

"_Blaze!"_ Cream exclaimed, running over to the feline as she let go of Aria's hand and knelt down to give her a hug.

"Cream!" Blaze returned happily, returning the warm embrace. Just then, she realized how much she had missed the small rabbit who had been her first friend, the one who had first accepted her as who she was, the one who showed her kindness and taught her about friendship, the first one who had rescued her from her world of loneliness.

When she got up once more, Cream was still holding onto her hand eagerly.

"Hey, Blaze," Amy said with a smile, being polite. "It's great to see you again."

"I feel the same way," Blaze replied, a smile still on her face.

"Uh, Sonic…who're they?" Tails asked, looking at the silver hedgehog and the sea-green cat and…

When he saw the small cherry fox, his heart suddenly raced to a million miles a minute and he suddenly found it hard to breathe as his throat closed up and he stared at her in wonder and amazement, wondering how such a beautiful creature could be a living thing.

"Tails, this is Lance the Hedgehog, Aria the Cat, and Rose the Fox," Sonic said, introducing them.

When Lance's eyes rested on Amy, the exact same thing that had happened to Tails happened to him as he suddenly lost his voice and his hearth beat so hard against his chest he was afraid it was going to pop out and fall on the floor.

They introduced themselves further to Tails, Amy, and Cream, but Lance found himself forgetting how to speak when he tried to speak to the beautiful pink hedgehog, so Aria and Rose both covered for him, and Tails mostly hung on Rose's words.

"So, will you mind if we stay?" Rose asked Tails.

He gulped. "No, I don't mind," he replied, voice a bit shaky, hating the way that he sounded.

Rose, on the other hand, found this kind of cute as the twin-tailed fox nearly stuttered and he was blushing, and she smiled at him, which only made his cheeks redden even deeper.

"So, you guys know how to fight?" Amy asked, looking mostly at Lance as she watched him blush, holding in her laughs. "Well, you guys would be really helpful if you helped us all stop Eggman from taking the Chaos Emeralds."

"Eggman? Who's that?" asked Aria

Sonic went into an explanation about the mad, megalomaniac scientist, who was intent on bringing total chaos and destruction on the world, an trying to obtain the Chaos Emeralds so that he could get supreme, ultimate power and create his ideal paradise, Eggmanland. Blaze then told them about Eggman Nega, Dr. Eggman's counterpart, telling them that he may be in this dimension as well. The threat was doubled, because there was trice the power because both sets of Emeralds were in the same dimension, and there were two equally mad evil geniuses, that, when combined, were probably smarter than Einstein and Galileo and all those other guys who were smart—_combined_.

"There's another thing that I'm concerned about," Sonic said. "Eggman hasn't tried to take the Emeralds for a while; I wonder what's taking him so long to try and get them."

"Maybe he's realized that Nega has come to this dimension, and maybe they're working together to form something," Blaze said, with worry in her voice as she thought of the huge robots that they could create.

"But now, we've got some new friends, right?" Sonic asked the three with a grin.

They smiled back at the hedgehog. They had thought that this Sonic the Hedgehog would've been very serious, because of his reputation of being a great fighter and the protector of his home; instead, there was this fun-loving, kind blue hedgehog who could run extremely fast and didn't act like he was a great hero and didn't throw his weight around. Blaze the Cat, too, was something that they didn't expect; they thought that she was probably going to be superior to them in a way because she came from another dimension, like them, but she seemed like Sonic, but Aria had noticed that she was a bit more serious than the blue blur and was more quiet and a bit more reserved, but when she talked to her friends, people she trusted, she opened up.

"We will aid you in fighting these…Eggmen," said Lance, fumbling slightly when he saw Amy looking at him.

"Great!" Sonic gave them his normal thumbs-up.

Cream, still holding onto Blaze's hand, was smiling at the newcomers, and then she looked back up at Blaze, her brown eyes shining with eagerness. "I'm so glad that you're back, Blaze!" she exclaimed happily. "Everyone missed you so much!"

"Really?" Blaze smiled, slightly amused.

"Yeah, we did," Cream said, bobbing her head up and down in a nod.

Sonic grinned at Blaze. "Cream missed you a lot," he said to her quietly. "We're all glad that you're back."

When he grinned, the lavender cat felt her heart jump a bit as his amazing emerald green eyes fixed on her own. She then shook off the feeling, but it lingered as something warm and fuzzy and nice, and she returned Sonic's grin.

None of them knew the challenges that they would soon face and the choices that they would soon have to make.

No one knew what troubles, tortures, temptations, challenges, and decisions that lay in store for them.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**SORRY IF THIS CHAPTER SEEMED A BIT RUSHED AND AGAIN I HOPE THAT I AM NOT DISAPPOINTING ANYONE. THANK YOU ELKPELT AND STARFIGHTER-105 FOR REVIEWING MY STORY, I HOPE THAT THIS IS GOOD ENOUGH. I WOULD APPRECIATE MORE REVIEWS AND ANYTHING YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THIS STORY; REMEMBER THAT THIS IS ONLY MY FIRST STORY AND THAT I MAY GET BETTER OVER TIME.**

**BUT FOR NOW, PLEASE CONTEND WITH MY WRITING.**


	5. An Unexpected Clash

Chapter 5

Rouge the Bat was flying over the hills, the lazy greenery seeming brighter under the afternoon sun. It had been a pretty average day for her—stealing a lovely diamond and hiding it in a place that she would never mention—and she was going to visit Knuckles on Angel Island. She was doing it more and more frequently now, visiting the red echidna on his lonely solitude, and she honestly had no idea why.

But she didn't mind.

She saw Knuckles right there, sitting at the base of the giant pedestal that held the Master Emerald, eyes closed, arms crossed against his chest as if defending himself in an argument. She flew down, angling her wings so that she landed almost silently next to him.

"What do you want, Rouge?" Knuckles asked, eyes still closed, not needing to open them because he had somehow known that she was coming. He had gotten used to her random visits.

"I just came by to say hi, Knuckie," Rouge said, and Knuckles flared a bit as she used the horrible nickname that she had given him. He had to control himself from punching her in the face, which he wanted very badly to do.

"Well, you just did," he retorted.

"Jeez, I just came by to see how you were doing," said Rouge, with a surprised note in her voice. "What's wrong with you? Usually you don't snap back at me right when I come by."

"The universe is at stake, so I really don't have time to deal with you right now," Knuckles told her.

"What's happening this time?" asked Rouge.

"There's something coming from another dimension; if you had bothered to be any help at all, you would've noticed that there were three newcomers from that dimension who came with a warning, telling us that the evil was coming here." The slight shock on her face was completely evident, the slight widening of her aqua-blue eyes, the way that she instantly crossed her ankles in front of her, the way her sensitive ears twitched. If you didn't know Rouge very well, you wouldn't think that this was important at all, but Knuckles knew her, and she was surprised.

"Where are they staying?" she asked.

"I don't know; why?" Knuckles replied cautiously.

"I'm just curious," Rouge retorted, annoyed at him. "Why do you always do that, Knuckles? Why do you always jump to conclusions like that?" The annoyance in her tone was evident as well, and you didn't have to know Rouge well to tell if she was annoyed or not.

"Because I'm tense, that's all," Knuckles said, voice rising. "It's a lot of pressure on someone when you've been told by three other people from a different dimension that an evil is going to come to your world and destroy it and that you are one of the only hopes for the galaxy and that you are one of the only ones who can save everyone." He was nearly shouting now.

"Well, why didn't you just tell me, Knuckles?" Rouge asked, her tone slightly softening. "I would've understood, and if you asked me, I would probably help you out."

Knuckles looked at her, and he realized that she was actually telling the truth. "I just…I didn't really want many other people knowing about this until it was the time to fight…"

Rouge rolled her eyes, her irritation rising slightly once again. "You don't have to do everything on your own, Knuckie," she said.

"I know," Knuckles answered, "but I didn't want others worrying, and—"

"Look, let's just forget that, I came by to ask you something," Rouge said, cutting him off. "I wanted to ask if you wanted to go to lunch with me, because I know this really good place and I wanted to see if you wanted to come."

Well, it wasn't like he had anything better to do, and he did have a month before they would all meet again…

"All right, Rouge," he answered, agreeing with her.

That earned him one of Rouge's smiles, and soon, she was leading him to the restaurant.

**BACK AT TAILS' WORKHOP…**

Just as she had suspected, Shadow had come to visit not only Blaze, but Aria as well.

It had been about a week since they had come here; Lance, Aria, and Rose were fitting in quite well, actually, with the carefree lifestyle of the inhabitants of this dimension. The others were very nice to them, and they already had allies—no, _friends_—with them on their side to fight against The Darkness. It had gone much better than they had imagined it would go.

Shadow came by that day, bursting through the doors in a flurry of wind because of how fast he had gone. Blaze turned, and she smiled at him, and she went over to him and gave him a quick embrace. After he let go, he allowed his eyes to drift onto Aria, and she looked at him with those very interesting eyes of hers, the eyes that he couldn't exactly give a name to what color they were. They were red, yes, but there was violet and magenta in there, too, some plum color in there and a little bit of pink; he settled for calling it one of the colors of the sunset, the color of the rich pinkish color that was fading into the orange and red but also fading into the purples.

Sonic entered the room just then, with a grin on his face, like he always did.

"Where's everyone else, Blaze?" asked Shadow, looking around the room.

"Tails is working on something, and Rose is watching him do it; she seems fascinated by the machines that he builds," Blaze replied, "but I'm not sure where Lance and Amy and Cream are, I just know that Aria stood here because she wanted to stay."

"Lance was pulled by Amy and Cream over to the flower gardens," Sonic grinned. "I saw the whole thing."

Aria laughed, her voice sounding like a beautiful melody and not like something that could come out of a living creature. "Lance is just too nice to stop the girls from what they're doing," she said, still giggling.

"Well," Shadow said, "I just stopped by to see everyone and how they were doing." As he spoke, he inconspicuously allowed his gaze to drift over to Aria time and time again.

"Hey," Aria said quietly, leaning in over to the other cat's ear, "can I talk to you for a second?"

"Uh—sure," answered Blaze, slightly surprised.

"Somewhere where we won't be heard," Aria said, even more quietly.

Nodding, and still slightly surprised, Blaze led Aria to a room while Shadow and Sonic were talking to one another. When the girls were settled, Blaze looked at Aria pointedly, telling her to go on with what she wanted to say.

"Well…I don't really know that much about you, so I wanted to know more. You're a princess, right? The last Guardian of the Sol Emeralds?" Aria asked suddenly.

Blaze backed up a bit, surprised that she would know. How could she have known? Blaze didn't recall telling any of the strangers, the newcomers, that she was the princess and the last Guardian of the Sol Emeralds.

Her tone became slightly guarded and cold as she replied, choosing her words carefully. "I'd rather not talk about it," she replied carefully, "but, yes, I am the princess and the last Guardian of the Sol Emeralds."

"What's it like, being a princess?" said Aria, her eagerness evident in her voice.

"I'd rather not talk about it," Blaze repeated, getting protective of herself now, hearing the anger in her own voice as she replied to Aria's question harshly.

"Why not?" Aria asked curiously.

"I don't like talking about my past," the lilac cat said, turning her face slightly away from the sea-green one.

Aria realized that Blaze must've had a rough past, because every time that she had asked her a question, she noticed that her eyes had flickered with pain and anger and sadness, so slight that it was almost unnoticeable, but she noticed.

"Sorry," she said softly, using her power to make Blaze calm down by humming a tune after her apology, a song that calmed down even the greatest anger and made them listen to reason and brought them back to the world.

At first, Blaze didn't realize feeling that was creeping into her system, but there was something, like a sliver of sunlight managing to enter a crack in a dark, cold room, suddenly filling it with light and warmth. It was unintentional, she had no idea where it was coming from, but when Aria started to sing, her voice seemed to calm Blaze down, allowed the feeling of calm to spread through her body, draining the anger and distrust and pain that had started to come into her, rooting them out.

Blaze looked at Aria, finally realizing how her power worked. It was very interesting, actually, interesting in a way that she had never thought she would ever think interesting would be.

"Aria…that's your power?" Blaze asked, awed, even though she knew the answer, but she needed it confirmed in the other feline's words.

Aria nodded. "Yes, I use my power over song to control the emotions of others, but, sometimes, I manipulate them into doing things that I want them to do at that moment," she replied, casting her eyes to the floor, suddenly interested in her shoes as she spoke. She then looked up at Blaze and made contact with her amber eyes again, and she said, "Well, also, I wanted to ask you about Shadow."

At this, Blaze got slightly interested and felt a twinge of humor inside of her. She had a feeling that soon, Shadow would ask her to tell him about Aria and what type of a person she was.

"What did you want to ask about him?" Blaze replied.

"What type of person is he like?"

"He's usually silent and quiet, as you've seen, but he's a really kind and caring person at heart. He's also very strong and very protective, and he will protect the ones that he cares about, and will fight to the death to protect them. Why don't you talk to him?"

"Because…well, it looks like he talks to you a lot more than he talks to anyone else, so I thought that you probably know the most about him."

"I'm sure that if you talk to him, he'll answer your questions."

"Really?" Aria's eyes lit up with hope.

Blaze nodded, a small smile on her face. "Really."

Meanwhile, while the girls were having that talk, Tails was working on his plane and adding some extra modifications to the vehicle, while Rose was watching, and she offered to help him.

"Sure," Tails answered absentmindedly, stuck in that world where it was only him and the machine, really, and that no one else was important. "Could you hand me that wrench over there?"

Rose went over to the table and picked up the wrench that he was vaguely pointing to, because his head was inside the plane. She gave it to him in his hands, and then she contended herself with watching him work again. She thought it was very interesting, how he built so many things, and he knew exactly what he was doing and he was very smart. At times, like this, she was amazed by how focused he was, like there was nobody else on this world but him and he was the only one working on the machine, and he sometimes got so absorbed in his work that he forgot that she was there.

"Tails, why do you like to build things?" Rose asked curiously.

"Well…I don't really know," Tails said, his head emerging from the plane, slightly covered with dirt. "Could you pass me the screwdriver now?"

Rose nodded, grabbing it and handing it to him. "So…this is really amazing, how do you do it?"

"I just know," he replied simply, his twin tails curling upwards as he struggled to fit something into a gap. When he finally got it, he stepped back and let out a whoosh of air as he wiped the sweat from his brow. "There, the modifications are finished."

"Wow," said Rose, looking at the plane. It was amazing that he built this; she didn't know anyone who could have possibly thought of doing this all by himself.

"Tails, it's amazing!" she exclaimed.

Tails felt a blush creeping up his cheeks as her amazingly green eyes met his. "Heh," he said bashfully, and Rose smiled back at him.

In another room, Amy, Cream, and Lance had returned. Cream was going back home to her mother, so Amy had asked Lance to show her some of his fighting moves with the sword.

The pink hedgehog watched, awestruck, as he leveled the blade perfectly, not hitting a single item in the room, nor even having the faintest idea of coming close to her head. He had perfect control over the sword, and it was almost a blur, a silver flash, more like a deadly extension of his arm, like a part of his body that could kill. It was amazing to see the perfection in how he controlled it, and it was all Amy could do _not_ to break out in applause once he finished his grand display for her as he placed his sword back in its sheath. He looked at her, his amazing, special deep blue eyes locking with her own.

"Wow, Lance, that was amazing!" Amy said excitedly. "How did you _do_ that?"

"Well…I told you, I seemed to have been born with the power," Lance answered, as the faintest sign of a blush creeped up his cheeks as he looked at the beautiful pink hedgehog, looked into her green eyes.

"That was _so_ amazing," Amy said with a smile. "I didn't know that you could do that!"

Lance shrugged. "It's almost like second nature to me," he explained.

"That's _totally_ awesome!" she exclaimed.

Lance bashfully stroked the hilt of his sword, reaching behind his back to touch the handle. "Thanks, Amy," said Lance, and then he started to blush when he saw her smiling eagerly at him, her eyes wide and alight with interest.

"It's just the truth; y—it's amazing," Amy replied, surprised by what she had almost said. Instead of saying that it was amazing, she had started to tell him, "You're amazing." Why had she fumbled over her words like that? She rarely fumbled over anything, she always knew what to say, whether a snappy comment was needed or words of encouragement.

Lance took the compliment with another blush, but he had enough humor inside of him to take a bow and say, "I'm glad that I could somehow appeal with my talent towards you, ma'am," while looking up at her with playfulness dancing in his gaze.

To his delight, Amy laughed.

Meanwhile, while Lance was modestly showing off his moves to Amy, Shadow was talking to Sonic. The blue hedgehog was surprised that his look-alike had actually wanted to go into conversation with him; usually the only conversations that they had were about Sonic himself being a faker and also how to stop a great threat that was going to destroy the world, never really to have social chitchat.

"Sonic," Shadow said, "what do you know about Aria?"

"Huh?" Sonic asked, slightly confused.

"What type of person is she?" asked Shadow.

"Well, I don't really know much about her," Sonic started as he eyed Shadow with surprise, "but, from what I've seen, she's a pretty cool person. She's been in fights before, so she's naturally guarded at times, but she's really nice. She's pretty open with her emotions, compassionate, and she will protect her friends; I know that from personal experience, because I remember that someone had dissed Rose bad, but by accident—I think that it was Knuckles, he came by before, only once—and she got so furious that I'm still not sure how Knuckles lived through that." He looked at Shadow again, once again eyeing him with confusion and surprise on his face. "Why?"

"Just because," Shadow replied.

"Why am I not surprised that you said that?" Sonic asked the ceiling.

"Because you know that I don't like telling other people my reasons for doing things," Shadow answered.

"It was a rhetorical question, Shad," said Sonic as he rolled his eyes, scratching his ear, the way he did when he was slightly annoyed or when he was thinking hard about something. In this case, it was when he was slightly annoyed.

"Shut up," Shadow snipped, clearly showing that Sonic had been right.

Sonic couldn't stop the grin from appearing on his face.

**LATER THAT DAY…**

"H-how…d-do…y-you b-b-both…go this f-f-fast!" Lance nearly shouted as he was pulled along by Sonic's hand.

"Sorry," Sonic apologized, slowing down for the sake of Lance and Rose, and Blaze slowed down as well for Aria.

Shadow had left soon after talking with Sonic, slightly annoyed at the blue blur, and hadn't even said good-bye. Lance had then asked Sonic if he and Blaze could show them around more, so that they could become more aware of their surroundings and become more familiar with this world, the world that was probably going to become their home since The Darkness had destroyed their original home. After she heard that, Amy had left and went to Cream's, while Tails continued to add more modifications to his plane.

After that, Sonic and Blaze had left and dashed off, and they had started to race, forgetting all about the passengers that were holding onto their hands. That was when Lance had barely stuttered that sentence, and they had slowed down.

"Is that your power?" Rose asked Sonic, interested.

"Yeah," Sonic said, slightly bashful. "I can go pretty fast."

"Don't be so modest," Blaze said playfully, a purr creeping up in her voice; at this, she was slightly surprised, because she never really purred. She shook it off and said to them, "Sonic is the fastest thing alive, he can go faster than the speed of sound and create a sonic boom in the process, hence his name."

"What about you?" Lance asked.

"Well, I guess I was born with it as a power, as well," Blaze answered.

"But don't you have another power? Control over a certain element or something?" asked Rose.

Sonic looked at Blaze and saw her reaction, how she slightly backed up in surprise, the pain that flashed in her eyes, the way that her breathing had started to slowly get more rapid. Aria saw this, as well, and she silently cursed Rose and her younger-child curiosity.

"Yes, I do," Blaze said stiffly.

"You know, you don't have to tell them," Sonic whispered in her ear, getting closer to her.

"They might as well know; when we get into a fight, it won't be such a secret any more, will it?" she replied, then turned to them. "I have the ability to control fire and make it come at my command," she said. "As the princess, it is an inherent power, a curse that I must deal with." She remembered the pain that she had felt in the past years, when no one, not even her own kin, would help her; she was scorned by all, hated by everyone, an unwanted piece of trash that they just didn't want to deal with any more. She turned away, unable to look at them any more.

Sonic went over to her and squeezed her hand, hoping to give her comfort. Blaze looked up into his emerald green eyes, and they were soft, like they usually were when he looked at her.

The others seemed to notice, and they didn't question it any more. They just left it at that, and, once again, Sonic took one of Lance's hands and one of Rose's hands as Blaze took Aria's and they continued to run.

"This," Sonic said, "is Leaf Storm, one of my favorite places to visit." The three looked around at the lush greenery, the rich vegetation that covered almost every square inch of the place, eyes widening.

"It's amazing," Rose breathed, feeling the plants' energy. She went over to one of the leaves from a wisteria plant, touched it, and it immediately perked up and suddenly started to grow around her wrist, twining itself around her as she smiled happily, closing her eyes.

"I thought that you might like it," Sonic said with a grin.

It was a very beautiful place, with vines and trees almost everywhere, rich and green, full of nature. The sky was completely blue, the white, fluffy clouds looking like marshmallows against the pale blue of the sky. It was a truly breathtaking place, a place where there was peace and you could gather your thoughts.

"Sorry, you know, about before," Aria whispered to Blaze.

"It's not your fault; none of you knew," Blaze said, shaking it off, a bit harshly, hating herself for sounding angry.

"No, I'm really so—"

"Let's just forget that it happened, all right?" Blaze suggested.

Aria nodded, glad that it would be fine.

Just then, she got that strange feeling that always came to her when there was trouble, when there was an enemy in her midst. She turned to Sonic, who had the same look on his face, and she knew that something was wrong.

"Guys, we should leave now," said Sonic, a strange note in his voice as he spoke. He quickly grabbed their hands, waiting for Rose to detach herself from all of the plant life here, and then they all sped off.

As they ran out, running back to Tails' workshop, Sonic's eyes darted around, looking for the danger. Blaze's reaction was the same, as her eyes quickly searched for what had caused that feeling that had come to her, made the fur at the back of her neck prick, made her instinct tell her to leave.

It was getting worse now.

"Sonic…" Blaze said, cautious, and he nodded; he knew it, as well.

Then, the voices, two voices that Sonic and Blaze hated, sounded in front of them.

"Where do you think you're going, you blue rat?"

"Princess, you didn't actually believe that we were going to just give up on the Emeralds, did you?"

The huge, black, metal robot in front of them was extremely lethal looking. It was huge, towering above them so much that they all had to crane their necks to see the top of it. At the end of one wrist was a hand with thick, stubby fingers that, when crushed between them, seemed to hurt a lot, and at the end of the other wrist was another mace, like the robot that Blaze had fought before. But this robot was more threatening, more intimidating than the other one had been, mainly because of its size and also the way that its emotionless red eyes seemed to specifically fixate on Sonic and Blaze themselves. The light from the sun glinted off of the cold black surface of the robot, making it seem even larger.

Hovering next to the robot, in two little pods, were none other than Dr. Eggman and Dr. Eggman Nega.

They cackled evilly in unison, and Sonic and Blaze glared up at the mad scientists, while Lance, Aria, and Rose looked questioningly at them. The Eggmen returned the gesture.

"Who're the new animals, Sonic?" Eggman asked him, an evil grin on his face.

"None of your business," Sonic retorted as he instinctively placed his hand in front of Rose and Aria. Lance had let go of his hand and was glaring at the Eggmen with fury in his eyes, for what reason, Sonic had no idea, and he pulled out his sword and took an offensive stance.

"Well, we hope that both of you will see sense and hand over what Emeralds you have," Eggman Nega said.

"What makes you believe that we have any of the Emeralds within our hands, Eggman Nega?" Blaze hissed, feeling her flames start to travel down her arms and form at her hands in her anger.

"It's typical," Eggman Nega replied, and both of the scientists cracked up at this, though neither Sonic or Blaze really thought that it was really that funny.

"So, Sonic, will you hand them over? Or will we have to use E-ninety-one to defeat you?" Eggman threatened.

"Maybe you guys should hide," Sonic suggested, his voice low.

"We can fight," Lance objected.

"If anything gets too hard, dash for cover," Sonic instructed, then turned to the Eggmen. "Even if we did have any of the Emeralds, what makes you guys think that we would just hand them over to you like that?"

"We thought that the mere sight of this robot would be enough to persuade you, you insolent rodent," Eggman Nega said, cackling with his evil glee. "But I can see that this is not the case."

"You actually thought that we would just give up?" Blaze growled.

"I can't believe that you guys actually were crazy enough to believe that; then again, you guys _are_ mad scientists, so I guess that being crazy had to be on your résumé," Sonic said with a grin.

Blaze looked at him and laughed. Sonic just realized then how beautiful her laugh was, and he wanted to remember the sound of it all the time, a soft, floaty sound that was almost too beautiful to be considered a sound that could come from a living being. And, he noticed as he looked at her, she looked even prettier when she was laughing.

He quickly chased that thought out of his head, but he looked at Blaze as she continued to laugh. "Good one, Sonic," she laughed, and he flashed her another one of his grins.

"You both won't be mocking us after we deal with you," Eggman Nega said, obvious anger in his voice.

At this, Sonic and Blaze both whipped around and focused their attention on the Eggmen. They both cackled evilly in unison once again.

The robot then suddenly lunged for them that one second that Dr. Eggman yelled, "E-ninety-one, attack all these pests! And don't hold back one bit! Show no mercy!"

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**HEY EVERYBODY! I HOPE THAT THIS IS GOING BETTER, BECAUSE I'VE BEEN WORKING HARD ON THIS CHAPTER. I WOULD APPRECIATE IT IF YOU PLEASE ALL REVIEWED ON MY STORY, PLEASE! I WANT TO PERSONALLY THANK STARFIGHTER-105 FOR FAITHFULLY READING MY STORY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! **** ANY REVIEWS OR COMMENTS OR WHATEVER YOU HAVE TO SAY ABOUT IT, PLEASE SAY IT, BECAUSE I NEED ALL THE ADVICE THAT I CAN GET. MY CHAPTERS ARE PROBABLY GOING TO BE UPDATED ON THE WEEKENDS, SO YOU'LL HAVE TO WAIT IT OUT.**

**IN THE MEANTIME, PLEASE CONTINUE TO READ!**


	6. E41's Power and Sonic's Rage

_I think that it's about time for a good fight, no? If you are disappointed with the fight scene tell me and I will not be offended in the least, I just want people to review my story. Like, pretty please. With cherries on top._

Chapter 6

A blue sky shone above the green grass, the afternoon sunshine sending its warm rays towards the lush, green, grassy hills. White, fluffy clouds randomly dotted the sky, lazily floating along.

Sonic, Blaze, and the other three newcomers barely had time to get away from the fist that was headed towards them. It landed on the ground, bringing up dirt and a cloud of dust, leaving a vaguely fist-shaped crater in the earth as it pulled back his hand.

The Eggmen cackled evilly from their pods as they watched the animals scatter.

"E-forty-one will finish you!" Eggman evilly laughed.

"And then we will take your Emeralds!" Eggman Nega added, and they both continued to crack up.

All five of them dodged another attack from the fist. Lance then took action; he swung his sword in perfect arcs, seeming to slice the air as he came up to the robot and started to swing the blade.

The amazing thing was that the robot didn't have a dent in it. The sword seemed to bounce off of the smooth, metal surface, like it was having no effect at all on the monstrosity.

"Wh-what?" Lance stuttered as he looked at the undamaged robot.

"That's the best that you can do? This'll be too easy!" Eggman Nega said.

Fury pulsed through Aria' veins as she heard the Eggmen mocking her friend. The blood roared in her ears as she glared up at them, and she opened her mouth and a song came out of her mouth, in a minor key, something that none of them knew what it was, but it made them all feel slightly scared. Her fury was being channeled into her song, trying to manipulate the Eggmen with her song, trying to make them scared of her.

The Eggmen seemed confused, looking back at forth to one another, wondering where the strange strike of fear was coming from. As Aria continued to sing the beautiful, haunting melody, they started to feel even more frightened, though neither of them knew why they felt this way.

"Wait, she's trying to manipulate us!" Eggman yelled, and Aria got slightly startled, but she continued to sing, even more forcefully now. The Eggmen pulled out something from somewhere, and they saw something small and white go into their ears, but they didn't really notice it. Seconds later, all they had were mad grins on their faces as Aria's melody became louder and louder, more and more anger being put into it.

The robot directly swung the mace at her, and her song turned into a scream as she ran away.

"Earplugs, my dear, block your singing!" Eggman Nega cackled. "With them, your power is completely useless!"

Before the could say anything else and before Sonic or Blaze could charge up their attacks, thorns suddenly popped out of the ground and restrained the humongous robot, E-41. Sonic, Blaze, Lance, and Aria turned around to see Rose's green eyes fixed intently on the ground, as she gently moved her hand in an upward motion as the plants grew. E-41 was struggling against the plant's hold, but it eventually got out.

"You think _that_ will stop E-forty-one!" Eggman Nega said to them. "Hah! You underestimate the robot's power! Maybe E-forty-one should teach you not to underestimate us!"

E-41 lunged, quicker than any of them could have imagined it would move, directly at Rose. The small fox was frozen with terror, her eyes wide as she looked at the mace headed towards her, the spikes glinting evilly in the afternoon sunlight.

She felt someone's arms wrap around her and dash away with her right before the mace hit.

"You OK?" Sonic asked once he put her down, safely out of range of E-41.

She nodded shakily, and Sonic dashed back to where Blaze, Lance, and Aria were dodging attacks.

Lance was getting angrier and angrier, and Blaze was as well. His attacks were becoming more and more vicious as Blaze's flames welled up inside of her and began to come to her hands so that they could aid her.

Blaze extended her arms towards E-41, and she let out a yell as her flames burst out from her palms. Lance, who had been attacking the robot viciously up close, had quickly backed away, startled, as Blaze's golden eyes blazed with her fury and the light from her flames glinted off of them and reflecting off the ruby gem on her forehead. She continued to pour out fire from her palms, her anger fueling her flames.

Eventually, her fiery onslaught stopped, and her breathing was slightly heavy from the effort it had taken to make the flames. The gray and black smoke that was where the robot had been moments before was starting to slowly clear up, and Blaze noticed that the Eggmen had made a run for it when she had started to get angry. All five of them continued to look at the smoke as it slowly dispersed, waiting to see the pile of molten metal and non-functional that Blaze had turned E-41 into.

They all gasped.

"How?" Blaze choked out, exhausted from the effort it had taken her.

Because E-41 wasn't a pile of molten black and silver metal. It was still standing, almost as if her attack had no effect; there was no dent, no indentation that she had touched it at all.

Eggman and Eggman Nega cackled gleefully when they saw all of the shocked faces. "E-forty-one is too powerful for you to defeat!" Eggman said with an evil smirk on his face.

Sonic curled quickly into a spiky ball, building up speed. Blaze saw, and she knew that she had to keep the Eggmen's attention away from Sonic, or else the surprise attack would fail.

"You take too much pride in your robot," she said, thinking quickly. "There's probably a place where they have more powerful things than you, making better robots than you do. Such a shame, not to be the best."

This diverted their attention towards her. "You're lying, Your Highness," Eggman Nega said.

"'Your Highness'?" Lance mumbled. "So the legends were right…"

The way that Eggman Nega mocked her title made Blaze angrier than she had been before; yes, she _did_ hate being called 'Your Highness' or 'Princess' by her guard at home, Gardon, but being called that by her archenemy made her fury grow even more immense.

"How do you know? Maybe the Sol Emeralds have taken me to another dimension, where things are more powerful and the regular inhabitants of the world are as smart as both of you combined," Blaze growled, her flames once again appearing on her skin in anger. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Sonic spinning faster and faster; he needed just a bit more time.

"Really?" Eggman asked, his tone suggesting that he didn't believe it.

Well, her job was done, she had distracted them for long enough. She just managed to run out of the way before Sonic released himself and headed straight towards E-41, and the Eggmen had obvious shock on their faces.

He rammed into the robot full blast, and Blaze wore a satisfied smile on her face; in a few seconds he was going to appear on the other side of the robot, having impaled it through the middle, wearing his usual cocky grin on his own face.

"Ugh!" Sonic exclaimed, bouncing back from the metal surface of the robot. He literally flew back, getting thrown into the forest. He managed to stop himself before he could get lost, skidding to a halt, wincing slightly at the pain in his back as blood started to flow. He struggled to get up, keeping one eye closed as he grabbed his right shoulder, where more of his blood was flossing from a cut. Unluckily, he had landed in a sharp part near the bottom of the robot, and he wasn't able to run it through.

"Sonic!" Blaze exclaimed, running over to him, worried. Her eyes were wide with shock and fear, and Sonic could help but think, _Wow, even when she's distraught she's beautiful._ He quickly shook his head to clear it of that thought.

"Are you all right?" she asked him worriedly.

"Yeah, I'm good—ah," he grunted as she touched him, her fingers getting dangerously close to the wound on his shoulder.

"Hohohohoho!" Eggman cackled evilly.

"Haahaha!" Eggman Nega joined in with the evil laughter.

"Now you see how you are no match for E-forty-one!" Eggman called down, wearing an evil smirk on his face as Sonic and Blaze glared up at him. Lance, Aria, and Rose had all watched this, frozen with fear and surprise, and watched the whole thing take place in front of their own eyes.

Sonic was barely able to support himself; he slightly leaned on Blaze's shoulder as she supported him, helping him carry his own weight. He grunted with the effort of moving, wincing, trying to shut out the pain.

Lance and Aria saw that Sonic was hurt and that Blaze was helping him, so they continued to fight the Eggmen. Lance continued to arc his blade as Aria sang more and more forcefully, trying to make them scared and run off, while Rose, who had regained her bearings, was making more plants grow, trying to trap the robot in thick vegetation. But Lance's attacks seemed to harmlessly bounce off of it, the Eggmen put in earplugs whenever Aria sang to block out the sound of her lovely and entrancing voice, and E-41 was tearing up the plants that Rose was making grow around him.

Blaze realized that they needed help, so she said, "Sonic, stay here."

"No, I'm coming," Sonic said, the pain that he felt evident in his voice as he tried to get up.

"You can barely stand; save your strength," she ordered him gently, and she ran off, despite his protests.

She came just in time to see Rose frozen in fear once more, and she shrieked. No one was close enough to help her, so the hand was able to smack her away like a fly. The cherry fox flew towards the side, and when she landed on the ground, she didn't try to get back up; she did weakly struggle, but she collapsed again and didn't get up.

"_Rose!"_ Aria shouted, and she ran towards her friend. Rose weakly moaned when Aria reached her, and her eyes slowly fluttered open, and they widened at something behind Aria.

"Aria!" she gasped, and Aria had just enough time to turn around to see the mace heading towards her. She closed her eyes, waiting for the impact that she knew was going to come as she crouched over Rose's body.

Metal clashing with metal was heard, and the sea-green cat saw Lance in front of her, swinging his sword to deflect the mace from her, and taking the rest of the blow that he wasn't able to block.

"Lance!" Aria gasped as the silver hedgehog collapsed onto the floor. Luckily, the spikes had somehow miraculously missed him, so it was just the matter of getting air into his lungs that was the hard part in all of this.

Silently cursing herself, Blaze continued to evade the attacks, trying to reach Lance, Rose, and Aria. E-41 seemed to know that was what she wanted, because it kept on blocking her moves with its hand while taking care of the others with the mace.

Aria's scream was heard when the spiked ball of death made contact with her body, and the last thing that Blaze was her crumpling to the ground next to her fallen comrades.

Sonic watched all of this as anger pulsed through his veins, watching the Eggmen beat up his friends, being helpless to fight him. He kept on trying to get up and force himself to stand, but his body wasn't listening, and he crumpled to the ground after his seventeenth attempt, having the same results as the other sixteen times that he tried to stand.

"Looks like it's only you left, Princess," Eggman Nega taunted her from his own safe little pod.

Blaze let out a snarl with no words as she glared at them, charging her flames. Once again, she managed to dash out of the way of the mace, but she only just escaped it. It continued to relentlessly pursue her, seeming to have the intention to kill, as she quickly dodged left and right, her eyes darting around quickly as she ran away from the robot, looking for a way to somehow defeat this thing.

For a second she wasn't fully paying attention to her opponent, and that was the one second that E-41 needed to lunge the mace at her.

Blaze let out a cry of pain as searing pain raked across her back, so ice cold that it seemed to be burning through her flesh. She lost her footing and stumbled slightly from the pain as her vision flashed red and black and white. She saw the trail of blood that was forming, coming in pools around her feet as she stood still, nearly slipping in her own blood, the blood that should have been in her body.

And that one second when she stopped because of the pain, in that one second, E-41 grabbed her with its hand and started to squeeze.

Blaze screamed in pain as the cold metal fingers made contact with her burning wound and as they closed around her, squeezing her, making her lungs contract and feeling like her ribs would break. She shrieked once more with the pain, struggling, trying to break free, but it was useless. The Eggmen were wearing evil grin son their faces as they watched her struggle helplessly against E-41's grip, screaming. Her vision was starting to fade away in darkness as the shrieks were tugged out of her as the crushing pain coursed through her system.

Away from the action, Sonic had seen first the three new people go down, but he had collapsed again, shutting his eyes against the pain as the blood pooled around his back and arm. But when he heard the scream, his eyes had flashed open, and he witnessed the hulking robot squeezing the life out of Blaze.

Instantly, he had no idea how, but the strength returned to him as his fury was fueled. He shot up, standing miraculously, and he shouted, _"Let her go, Eggman!"_ with all the anger and rage that he felt in his voice.

Blaze faintly heard Sonic yell, and she had just enough strength to see him dashing towards her, up and ready for a fight.

The robot squeezed even harder, and another shriek came out of her. Her vision continued to fade, and, eventually, her vision finally gave way to the dizzying blackness and took over her.

The Eggmen cackled evilly when they saw Blaze go limp.

"You've taught her the lesson, E-forty-one," Eggman said, "though I wish that we could continue to rid ourselves of one pest."

"But if we finish her off, we will have no leverage against any of her little friends if we capture her," Eggman Nega contradicted his counterpart.

Eggman nodded, and, since he knew that E-41 would keep on squeezing until Blaze had breathed her last, he ordered the robot, "Drop her, listen to Sonic; let's see what he does."

The robot let her go, retracting its fingers as Blaze fell to the ground. Sonic's eyes widened as he saw all the blood, and he ran even faster towards her side, the pain and fatigue that he had felt just moments before seeming to have left his system. He reached her, and he knelt down by her as she moaned softly, eyes closed and unconscious, and he felt fury, rage, hate, and many other emotions that he rarely felt pulse through him as he looked at her fallen body, watched her eyes slightly flicker with the pain that she felt, as he had heard her scream moments before, screaming in pain…

Sonic felt a low growl rising in his throat, a sound that rarely came out of him, as he held Blaze, saw her eyes closed. His anger pulsed through him, giving him raw power, his fury fueling his hate as he growled, "What. Did. You. Do. To. _Her._" His rage, quivering inside of him, made his words become short and clipped, as if they were sentences themselves. He knew very well what they did, but how much pain had they caused her, what had they done to make her pass out, to fade away from consciousness, still in pain?

The Eggmen just cackled, obviously enjoying the moment.

"Sonic, I thought that E-forty-one had already taught you _your_ lesson," said Eggman Nega.

"I've always been a slow learner," Sonic growled icily, glaring at them as the anger continued to pulse.

"So we'll have to do to you what we did to Blaze, hmm?" Eggman asked, and both of the counterparts cracked up at this. Sonic's gaze shot back to Blaze's fallen form, where her chest was weakly and falling in rapid breaths, breathing shallow, barely able to move, and his mind kept on remembering her screams…

"You…you…_you_…" Sonic continued to look at Blaze, knocked out by this robot. "Rrrrgh!" Sonic snarled as his fury powered him up.

Rose, who was weakly getting up, wincing slightly at the pain in her shoulder (_There'll be a major bruise there, I'm gonna feel that tomorrow_, she thought), saw the last part, where E-41 had dropped Blaze, and Rose gasped at the unconscious form. She heard the whole conversation, heard the anger that was in Sonic's voice as he yelled, and when he snarled, Rose gasped.

Now, a dark aura was coming off of Sonic, like a dark blue glow, and it was surrounding his entire being. He continued to growl, something that Rose hadn't ever heard him do ever since she and her friends landed here, and the dark aura continued to swirl around him. His bright cobalt blue fur was now quickly fading into a much darker shade of blue, like the dark blue of the night sky, and the dark light continued to grow. He had his back facing towards her, and when he glared up at the Eggmen, Rose once again gasped when she saw his eyes.

They were white. Pure white all around. No irises, no pupils, no nothing, just deathly white.

The Eggmen both backed up at the transformation of Sonic, both seeming confused and scared.

"What have we done to make him so angry as to turn into Dark Sonic? He didn't transform when we took care of the other three…" Eggman said quietly to Eggman Nega.

Dark Sonic got up, walked away from Blaze, and darkness seemed to come to his hands, come to his aid. Next to Rose, Aria was weakly stirring, and she opened her eyes and looked, and she gasped. Lance was coming to, as well, groaning in slight pain, and when he opened his eyes and saw Blaze unconscious and Sonic as this dark being, his eyes widened.

"Now, now, Sonic, we were only just playing around, we won't harm Blaze any more today," Eggman Nega offered hastily.

Dark Sonic didn't answer, as he continued to walk up to them, darkness seeming to come towards him. He extended his palm towards the two pods which were flying next to each other, shooting out darkness, and the Eggmen had to move their pods in opposite directions to dodge the attack. Dark Sonic then set his gaze on the robot once more, and he started to curl into a ball, much, much faster than before as the darkness surrounded him, and he released himself and ran right through the robot.

But he wasn't through. He did it again, once, twice, three time, four times, until he was sure that the robot was nothing but a pile of scrap metal that had been run through by an extremely angry hedgehog. E-41 fell to the ground with a crash, but Dark Sonic still wasn't finished, and he held his hand out in the direction that the robot was lying on the ground and snapped his fingers, and, instantly, the robot spontaneously combusted in a flash of light, and then the smoke cleared, E-41 wasn't there any more.

The Eggmen started to fly away, knowing that they were no match for Dark Sonic. "We'll get you next time, you cursed hedgehog!" Eggman called back as they flew out of sight.

Dark Sonic's aura started to calm down, retreating back into the air as his dark blue fur was now fading back into its original bright cobalt blue color that shone in the afternoon sunlight. The aura was soon completely gone, and when he turned his face to face Blaze once more, the others noticed that his eyes had turned back to their emerald green color as he knelt down, gently touching her face and wincing slightly at his own pain.

Blaze weakly moaned as her eyes fluttered open, and she saw Sonic's face staring down at her.

"S-Sonic? Did you…" she asked, not having to finish.

"Yeah, I got super angry and turned into Dark Sonic," Sonic said, casting his eyes towards the ground in his shame.

"Is the robot gone?" asked Blaze.

"Yeah," Sonic replied. "Can you stand up?"

"I _think_ so…" Blaze trailed off as she tried to stand, then immediately collapsed a second after. Sonic couldn't help a small grin from creeping onto his face, and he offered her his hand. She took it, still a bit wobbly, but Sonic pulled her up easily and allowed her to use his shoulder for support, like she had done when he had first gotten the wounds.

Lance, Aria, and Rose were all looking at Sonic, surprised.

"What _happened_?" Lance finally asked after the silence got too uncomfortable.

"I got angry, and, well, let's just say that my temper got the better of me when I saw what the Eggmen did to all of you guys," Sonic replied, as Blaze's previous shrieks still echoed in his head. He had never heard her scream like that before; it was horrible, like the sound technically wasn't supposed to come out of a living, breathing thing.

"Does that happen…often?" said Aria.

"Not at all," Blaze replied as she leaned against Sonic for more support, her lungs still fighting for air, though she spoke fairly easy. "It usually only happens when he is extremely angry; I've only seen him turn into Dark Sonic once before, and we've known each other for quite a while. I think that it only happens when he sees his friends hurt, and his anger, well…" Blaze didn't want to say any more.

Sonic nodded, confirming that it was true. "It shouldn't happen again for a while," he said, knowing that they were all now slightly scared of him.

Silence once more. Very awkward silence filled the place.

"We understand," Aria finally said. "So, those were the Eggmen, correct?"

Sonic and Blaze both nodded.

"They can make things like that?" asked Rose, seeming horrified as her eyes widened in fear.

Another nod from them.

"After getting beaten like that, though, I think that they won't try anything for a while," Sonic assured them. "They'll probably stay in hiding for a while to get over the fact that they were defeated—_again_—by Blaze and I," he finished with a grin.

"If they find out about The Darkness…" Aria trailed off, the thought was too horrifying to think about.

"Let's hope not," Lance said, his face grave.

"We should head back to Tails' place," Sonic suggested. "The others will probably be worried about us, since we haven't come back yet, and it's been quite a while since we left."

They nodded, and they ran back to Tails' workshop.

Along the way, Aria cast her eyes to the ground, and Blaze looked at her, holding her hand so she could try to keep up with them.

"Aria, what's wrong?" Blaze asked.

"My powers are useless against things that are not flesh and blood," Aria said, and Blaze heard the frustration in the other cat's voice. "I was completely useless when the Eggmen put on the earplugs."

"None of us could beat that thing," said Blaze. "You know that; Sonic was the only one who was able to."

"I just hate feeling so…helpless. Useless," Aria confessed.

"We all feel like that at times," Blaze told her, remembering her own past and the way that she had felt. No one, not even her own family would help her. Her mother and father had died, she was their only child, but no one would help her because of her flames.

Aria, sensing that Blaze really didn't want to talk about it any more, realizing that she had hit a spot too close to home without meaning to, dropped the subject as they continued to run.

Blaze realized that Aria understood, and she looked gratefully at her, and Aria smiled in return.

The lilac cat smiled back at her.

**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**I HOPE THAT YOU LIKED THE FIGHTING SCENE AND THAT I WASN'T TOO BAD FOR YOU. PLEASE, IF ANYONE READS THIS I WOULD APPRECIATE MORE REVIEWS, ANYTHING. TELL ME THAT MY CHAPTER SUCKS, I DON'T CARE, I JUST REALLY WANT PEOPLE'S REVIEWS! PLEASE!**

**WELL, ANYWAY, I HOPE THAT THE STORY'S ALL RIGHT NOW. THE NEXT UPDATE WILL PROBABLY BE ON 1/22 OR 1/23, IF I'M LUCKY IT'LL GET DONE BEFORE THE WEEKEND.**

**PLEASE CONTINUE READING! AND PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE REVIEW!**


	7. Nightmares

Chapter 7

"Oh, my god, what _happened_!" Amy nearly shrieked once she saw the condition that the others were in. When she saw all the dried up blood and the wounds that were on all of them—none of them were unscathed—she had nearly fainted.

"We got into a fight with the Eggmen, as usual," said Sonic, "and, as usual, we beat them." This last part he added with his usual grin on his face.

"What did he _do_ to you guys?" The pink hedgehog's voice was slowly rising in hysteria and fear as she saw all the battle wounds; she had seen Sonic fight against Eggman a lot, and she had seen Blaze help him, but none of them had horrible wounds like this before.

Tails, who had heard all the commotion, raced out and once he laid his eyes Sonic and the others, he yelled, "Sonic, what in the world were you _thinking_!" His gaze was tugged towards Rose, whom he watched intently; she didn't seem to have any serious wounds, and neither did Aria or Lance; Sonic and Blaze seemed to have been hurt the most out of all of them.

"Sonic, _what happened_?" Amy asked, more forcefully now, knowing that getting into a fight with the Eggmen didn't end up like this.

Sonic, realizing that he couldn't delay the inevitable any longer, finally confessed, "You guys, this robot was like nothing that we'd ever seen before, like nothing that we've ever fought except in our Super Forms."

"Do you think that they are using their combined intelligence to create some type of monstrosity that is more capable of things that robots that they had created in the past weren't able to do before?" Tails asked, his own intelligence making its way into his speech. "What was different?"

"My flames had no effect," Blaze said as she remembered the fear that had surged through her when she had seen the smoke clear and had seen that E-41 had been unharmed.

"Neither did my sword," Lance added. Amy looked at him surprised; the way that he had shown her how he handled the sword, with such power and control, made her believe that he may have been able to cut through anything. And now, though all of this, after narrowly escaping the Eggmen, when Lance saw Amy's eyes resting on him he couldn't help but feel a small blush start to creep up his cheeks. Seeing this reaction made Amy smile, despite how worried she was for everyone else.

"It just tore up the plants that I grew to restrain it," said Rose with her nervousness and horror on her face. _Even when she's worried, she's still the most beautiful thing I've ever seen,_ Tails thought, then blushed, then chased that thought away from his mind.

"My singing was useless when the Eggmen put on the earplugs," Aria said, her voice nearly a hiss in her frustration, hating the feeling of hopelessness that had overcome her.

"And when I rammed into that thing full force, nothing happened; it didn't even have a dent in it!" Sonic exclaimed. "That thing was, like, wicked strong! I'd never seen the Eggmen make something like that before!"

"Then how'd you beat it?" Tails asked curiously.

"Well…" Sonic trailed off, and Tails instantly knew the reason and dropped the subject.

"The important thing is that you guys are safe and that you guys won," he finally said, then looked out of the window. "It's getting pretty late, I think that we could all do with some sleep now."

They all nodded, and Amy said good-bye to everyone as she was going back to Cream's, giving Lance a little wink, laughing inwardly at his expression, and then going over to the little rabbit's home.

The beds had all been set up for them, and Lance, Aria, and Rose lied down on their correct places. The moment that Lance's head hit the pillow he was dead to the world, but Rose was having trouble sleeping, so Aria sung her a calming lullaby and the little fox was asleep in a minute. Aria herself fell asleep not too long after everyone else did.

Sonic and Blaze did have beds as well, in separate rooms; Sonic's room had a large window that he was able to open and so he could jump out and take a run if he needed to, Blaze's room was just an ordinary room, because she didn't need to run as much as Sonic.

Sonic, like Lance, was out like a light the second that his head hit the pillow. Blaze went out quickly as well, but she couldn't stay asleep for long.

Nightmares haunted her tonight. She woke up after another horrible dream, after her mind made her relive one of her horrible experiences from the past that she would rather forget. She fell back asleep after calming herself down, only to have the worst one come to her.

It wasn't exactly one nightmare; it was multiple ones, all hitting her at once. When she fought Sonic in her anger at the Eggmen, how her anger had been fueled when she saw her archenemy laughing, how Sonic had always had something like a small grin on his face, which made her annoyed and angry and made her attack with more force. When the Eggmen stole the Power of the Stars, taunted her, made her so angry that she was blinded by her rage that she burst into flames and had lost it completely; if Sonic hadn't been there, things probably wouldn't've ended well at all. And many others, all attacking her at once, the images from the past that were better buried under her memory.

But one nightmare, one single nightmare stood out from the rest. This was after Marine had chased after the pirates, when she had been held hostage by Whisker and was being dangled over the sea by the monstrous robot that was under Whisker's control. Right when Sonic hit the huge, red robot, when Marine was falling down.

In reality, Blaze had caught the small raccoon safely in her arms, and Marine had looked up at her, eyes wide, and Blaze had set her down and had gotten ready to fight the monstrosity. And if Blaze hadn't caught her, then all she really would've gotten was a big bump on the head.

But in the dream, it was different. In this dream, the red robot had flung Marine too far out into the sea, and instead of Blaze catching her, Marine fell into the hungry and foaming waves that had been eagerly reaching up for prey in the dark, stormy night. The raccoon screamed, screamed in fear as the waves choked her and Blaze saw salt water fill her mouth, and she was powerless to protect her. Marine continued to shriek as the hungry waves continued to throw her around and around, screaming in fear and nervousness and because of the trouble of getting air into her lungs, screaming—

Then falling silent as she finally fell victim to the waves, her shrieks for help suddenly stopping as the waves consumed her.

All Blaze could do was stare in shock, she couldn't believe what had just happened. Tails, who had been with Sonic and Blaze then, had run to the edge of the floating platform that they had been standing on and was looking out at the waves, still as agitated as before, just looking at shock where Marine had disappeared under the waves.

Blaze looked behind her where Sonic had landed just moment before, and the grief that he felt was on his face, his eyes showing his disbelief. She could barely keep her sadness in and tears started to prick the corners of her eyes, a very strange experience for her.

And that was when something sharp, metal, and lethal pierced through Sonic's chest, right where his heart was.

At first, Blaze's mind didn't exactly understand what was happening, couldn't process the turn of events that just happened, but everything suddenly fell into place when Sonic suddenly let out a grunt, and then his voice grew louder and rose higher in an agonizing cry of pain as Captain Whisker pulled back the sword that he had used to impale Sonic through the heart, and the blue hedgehog collapsed onto the ground, his own blood pooling around him in a deep red puddle that was rapidly growing as the wound continued to bleed. In that instant, Blaze's body acted before her mind did, running over to Sonic and cradling his head in her hands as she looked at him and his closed eyes that were shut tight against the pain. Everything seemed to be fading away into whiteness; Tails was gone, and the background was fading away, though Blaze didn't pay attention to that, she was only paying attention to Sonic, his breathing rapid and labored, his blood as it fell on her hands and on her body.

"Sonic…" Blaze was barely able to choke out.

"Blaze…" Sonic responded weakly, and then he suddenly had to stop as a horrible round of coughs wracked his body, and he began to spew blood from his mouth as his wound continued to pour out the red liquid, his blood, the blood that should have been in his body. It had all happened so fast, so quickly, so impossibly quick and fast that she couldn't do anything about it, but at the same time it felt too long, too late.

In the distance, Blaze saw the red robot that was faithfully listening to Whisker start to vanish, and she heard the horrible, grating cackle of Captain Whisker before he, too, faded away into the whiteness. It was only Sonic and Blaze now.

"Shh," Blaze said gently once he had spoken her name, "don't waste your energy; we'll get you to a hospital, and then everything'll be all right."

His breathing was ragged as he coughed out blood again, but he managed to weakly grasp her hand, wincing at the effort of doing something that would be so simple for Blaze to do. "N-no stopping this…" he rasped, his voice barely a croak, "B-Blaze, please…t-take care of…of 'em…a-all of 'em…for me…"

"Tsk, don't say things like that," scolded Blaze lightly, gripping onto his hand more tightly than she had been before.

He looked at her, his emerald green eyes full of pain as the light was already beginning to fade from his always bright eyes. "Bl-Blaze…I wanted y-you to know th-that…I'm…I'm sorry…f-forgive me…" The blue hedgehog entered another round of terrible coughing as the blood continued to spew out from his mouth and from the wound that Whisker had given him as it formed an even bigger pool, and the air was already heavy with the scent of it; his breaths were slowly becoming more and more strained, becoming weaker. "I-I'm sorry, Blaze…p-please…f-for…give…me…"

His hand went limp, and he let out another ragged breath, lungs fighting for air, and then his eyelids slowly shut and his body, which had been previously arching back from the pain, stopped moving, and that ragged breath had been his last as he stopped breathing.

Blaze wouldn't believe it, she couldn't believe it, because at first it made no sense. But then the magnitude of what had just happened hit her, the shock and sudden reality hit her like a blow. _No, it can't be true, it can't, he can't be…_

His body was slowly growing colder and colder by the second. Once again, the thoughts suddenly popped into her head at random, _No, he can't be gone, he can't, he just can't…_

"Sonic!" Blaze screamed in fear. "Sonic, wake up!" She resorted to shaking him, slapping his face as hard as she could to make him come to, and when his eyes didn't open, when his breathing didn't begin once more, she realized the truth. But…

"No, no, you can't be gone," she said, her voice rising with fear. "No, Sonic, I need you! You can't go! You can't leave me!"

No response.

"I am _not_ letting you leave me!" Blaze shrieked. "Sonic, wake up, now! Please! You can't leave me alone! I won't let you!"

Silence. No sign of life.

"NO! No, you _won't_ leave me! _Come back!_" she screamed, feeling the salty tears well up in her and threaten to overflow.

And, when one tear managed to escape her eye and fall on his still, lifeless cheek, the rest all burst out of her like a sudden river. She could barely see through the heat and salt of her tears, she was choking on her breath, coughing, not able to breathe.

"_Don't go!"_ she shrieked in agony, the mist of her tears making her vision swim. And when she saw that Sonic gave no response, that she didn't feel his heartbeat under her hand, she began to scream in pain as her flames appeared on her skin in her grief. The fire spewed around her in her emotion as she continued to let the tears stream out of her, and her emotions were suddenly released in a burst, like they had been held back in a dam, and she began to scream like a wild animal, an untamed beast, a sound that at didn't seem that it could be made from a living thing, scream and shriek with no words, just horrible sounds of grief and pain and intolerable agony.

"_SONIC! NO!"_

With a sudden jolt, Blaze shot up in her bed as her eyes snapped open to show her that she was in complete darkness, her breathing was rapid and Sonic's name was still on her lips. She was staring straight ahead, not really noticing anything, but she heard her door open and footsteps come in, and she heard the voices of Aria and Rose, but their voices weren't making any words, weren't making sense, they were talking to her but she couldn't make their words form into coherent thoughts into her head.

But, when she heard his voice…

"Blaze, are you OK? What happened?" he asked her, anxious, and she whipped around to see his familiar face sitting on the edge of her bed, and she felt the touch of his hand on her shoulder. Instantly, she reached out for his face and began to touch him, feeling his quills, the skin on his face, the outsides of his eyes, nose, the thin bones that lined his face, and he didn't pull away.

"Blaze—"

"Sh," Blaze said abruptly, cutting him off, needing to know that he was there, that she hadn't once again faded into a dream. She continued to feel around his face, touching his cheek, his eyes once more, running her fingers through his cobalt blue quills, and she finally placed her fingers on his lips.

"All right, now, say something," she ordered him.

"Blaze…what's wrong?" he asked her gently.

Blaze finally realized that it had all just been a dream, just a horrible nightmare, and she closed her eyes, exhausted, as she laid her head against his chest. Sure enough, she heard his heart beating under the strong, lean muscles of his body, and it sounded loud and strong and firm and comforting, and she felt the comforting rhythm of it as her cheek was pressed against it. Sonic realized that she needed comfort at this moment, and he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, as if he would never let go, and she buried her head in his chest, trying to find refuge in him.

"Aria, Rose, I think that you should go," Sonic suggested quietly as Blaze's body continued to shudder in his arms. The fox and cat nodded, and they went outside the door, but their curiosity got the better of them, and they hung outside of the doorway to listen, their ears pressed against the closed door.

"Blaze," Sonic murmured to her comfortingly as he rubbed her back soothingly, his fingers rubbing the spot between her shoulder blades, where she liked it, as his breath stirred her ear and played gently with her hair, "what's wrong? What happened?"

"I…" She had to stop herself, because she nearly burst into tears as she remembered the horrible nightmare.

"You screamed my name; what happened?" he persisted, still gentle with her.

"I…I had a nightmare," she confessed. "It was everything, Sonic, everything, all at once, and a new one…" She could barley continue, in fear that she would collapse into sobs and she wouldn't be able to stop once she did.

"Tell me about the new one," Sonic whispered, as quiet as he had been before. "You can tell me; it would be better to get it off of your chest."

So, she told him, looking up at him. She told him about the new one, where he…where he…she couldn't even say it, in fear that it might have become reality. When she told him about Marine, his eyes had widened in disbelief and shock, and his emerald green eyes, which were very much alive and bright, hardened when she told him about how he got pierced with the sword.

Outside, Aria and Rose were both stunned; they hadn't known that Sonic and Blaze had gone through things like that before, such pain and sadness and fear that they wouldn't be able to escape with their lives.

"Sonic, it was so real…I thought you were…you were…" She couldn't even finish before she started to gasp; she forced the tears back as she buried her head in his chest once more, and he held her tighter in his strong, lean-muscled arms.

""I'm right here, Blaze," he said gently into her ear. "I'm alive. You're feeling my heartbeat right now, right? I'm alive. You caught Marine, and we're all OK. I'm right here, alive, my heart is beating, I won't leave you. I promise you," he said, and he was being so gentle, unlike his normal self, "I promise you that I won't leave you." He leaned in even closer, his gentle breath stirring her ear. "I promise."

He continued to hold her close to him, and Blaze closed her eyes once more. With the comforting beating of his heart, the soothing rise and fall of his chest as he breathed, and the feel of his strong arms, firm and sure, around her, she fell asleep in his arms with no more nightmares the rest of the night.

**THE NEXT DAY…**

"Aria, can I talk to you?" Shadow asked suddenly.

Once again, he had come over to visit Blaze—of course—but the feeling that he needed to talk to Aria had been nagging at him for a long time, and he felt that he needed to know more.

The sea-green cat looked up, tugged out of her thoughts. "Well, sure, Shadow," she replied, slightly surprised and feeling slightly happy at this.

The ebony hedgehog, before he could rethink anything, went into a room with her as Rose continued to watch Tails build his plane in another room. Amy had come over to see Lance once more, and, like Shadow and Aria would soon be, they were talking. As for Sonic and Blaze, the lilac feline was still sleeping in the blue hedgehog's arms, and that was when Sonic realized how exhausted she was. So he continued to hold her close to him as she went on sleeping peacefully without any more nightmares.

"Aria," Shadow started once the door was closed, "I want to know more about you. What was your life like, back when you were in your dimension, before it was destroyed by The Darkness?"

"Well…it was just about as normal a life as I could get, but…some people were scared of me. Some people thought that I would use them for my own purpose when I sang so that I could manipulate them, though I'd never do that." As she spoke, she cast her eyes towards the ground, at times like this hating her stupid power.

Shadow looked at her, realizing that she didn't believe that her power was important, noticing that she somehow needed comfort, but he didn't know how to give it to her.

Aria looked up again. "Well, Shadow, I want to know more about you. What was your life like?"

"Well…" Shadow told her the story, amazed that he was actually telling her this. The only ones who really knew the whole thing were Sonic and Blaze, because Sonic had found out and he had told Blaze because he had known that he could trust her, and, in return, she told him all about her past; but with Aria, she was just…different. He felt that he could tell her anything, anything at all, and she would never spew no matter what, that he instantly knew that he could trust her with all of his greatest secrets.

"Oh, Shadow, I'm so sorry," Aria said gently as he told her about the death of Maria.

"It's fine," Shadow said, looking away, then falling silent.

"You know, I haven't heard you sing," he said abruptly. "Would you mind singing me something?"

Aria allowed a small smile to appear on her lips, knowing exactly what she was going to sing. The moment that she opened her mouth, Shadow was lost in her voice as she sang a melody so lovely and calming and soothing that it was amazing. At first, it didn't sound like it was able to come out of a human being because it was so lovely, and Shadow felt that it was like an angel that was singing just to him, just for him, saving her special song for his ears only. It swayed and rose slightly up and down, and it was the most beautiful thing that Shadow had ever heard. He would never forget that song, he realized, he would never forget the way that Aria had sung the amazing aria, the sound of her voice.

When the song ended, the birds, which had, before, been twittering happily outside, had all fallen silent as the cat had sung, and her voice drifted away softly, like a gentle wind was making it slowly fade away until it could be heard no more.

Shadow was staring, awestruck, at her. "That was…amazing," he finally said, then looked at Aria as she looked intently at him, and he noticed, not for the first time at all, that she was an amazingly beautiful creature.

He shook his head to clear his thoughts, and then Aria asked what his power was.

As shadow demonstrated his power over Chaos, using the Chaos Spear and making sure to aim for a corner in the wall that was completely far away from her and wouldn't break anything, Lance and Amy were talking in another room behind a closed door.

"Amy, why would you think that?" Lance asked, mortified after he heard her question.

"Lance, it's just chemistry; if a girl sees a guy that she thinks is cute, then she probably will follow him around," said Amy as she tried to get Lance to see her point. He seemed to not understand why she would ask that question, but he was honestly a good looking guy; a simple question of asking him if he was followed around by a crowd of girls made him blush so dark that Knuckles would be envious of his cheeks' red color.

_Funny,_ Amy thought to herself after she said that, _I chase Sonic, but now, it's almost like…like I don't really care that much any more…wow, I've been acting really weird lately, ever since Lance and the others came…_

The silver hedgehog noticed that the pink one was deep in her own thoughts, but he asked gently, "Amy?"

"What?" she replied, snapped out of her trance.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," Amy replied, realizing that it was actually the truth. "I'm really fine, Lance; I was just thinking about something," she said when he continued to look at her pointedly.

Lance shrugged and gave up, realizing that Amy probably wouldn't tell him what was on her mind at that moment.

"So, what do you think of life here?" Amy asked.

"Well, it's nothing like I would've expected it to be," Lance replied honestly. "Everything here is so laid back and peaceful that it's very surprising to see how well everyone fights."

Amy nodded absentmindedly. "Yeah, things work pretty smoothly here: it's not like we always have to be serious, we also are still just, like, teenagers, and we can't act all serious like adults all the time. Sonic is a really nice guy, and he's an amazing fighter and will stop at nothing to protect his friends; Shadow, he's like the darker Sonic, not nearly as talkative or laid back as Sonic, but he's nice if you get to know him, and he will also protect his…allies; Knuckles is a bit of an idiot, but he's a good fighter, too, because he's the strongest thing alive, but he isn't that talkative either; and Blaze, well, she's always had to fight, but she can be stubborn at times and believes that she has to do everything by herself sometimes, but she's a really great person."

Lance had personally experienced Sonic's rage during the fight with E-41, when he had turned into Dark Sonic after seeing Blaze hurt the way that she had been. He remembered faintly, when he was passed out, he had thought that he heard screaming, and he realized that those had been Blaze's screams when she was in pain. Sonic had gotten so furious that he had transformed, using his anger to fuel his power.

"Come on, Lance, I want to show you something," Amy said, suddenly grabbing his hand and dragging him out the door. She smiled as she knew where she was going to take him, a place where she was pretty sure he was going to enjoy.

He didn't object because the moment that he felt her fingers intertwining with his, he immediately shut up.

While Amy was dragging Lance over to the meadow (she was pretty sure that Sonic hadn't showed them that place because it wasn't exactly one of the main places he visited), Rose watched, fascinated, as Tails wiped the sweat from his brow and stepped back to admire his work.

"Tails, how do you _do_ this!" Rose exclaimed, amazed. The plane was now modified with new wings, and Tails had turned the engine on and there was a rocket of blue fire that was blasting out from the back, giving it a very nice look.

"It just…comes to me," Tails said as he blushed slightly.

"You are a genius!" Rose said with a smile, and his cheeks reddened even deeper than they had been before. "I could never imagine anyone building anything like this as fast as you did, Tails!"

"Heheh," Tails laughed, bashfully scratching the back of his head. "It's nothing, really," he added modestly.

Rose's green eyes were bright as she grinned at him. "Tails, you are probably the most interesting person that I've ever met, and the smartest," she told him, and the orange fox's blush continued to get deeper as he looked at the cherry one.

"Well, it's not like it's a big deal…"

"Stop trying to be so modest, your work is amazing!" With that enthusiastic reply from Rose, Tails' twin tails curled up slightly at his happiness and started to wave up and down like they had minds of his own, the way they did when he was bashful, and when Rose's eyes fixed on Tails, he had to look away so that she wouldn't see the ridiculous blush on his cheeks. But she saw it, and she smiled, finding it kind of cute.

In the other room, where Sonic was still holding Blaze as she slept peacefully, her breathing soft and even, the blue hedgehog was calmer than he had been in a long time. As he held her in her arms, he realized how much he had missed her, how there had been a hole in his heart the time that she was away, how happy he was when she came back. He closed his eyes and drank in her scent, amazing, clean, perfect, a hint of lilac and something else sweet in there that he wasn't able to name.

Soon, Blaze's eyelids started to twitch, and her eyes soon fluttered open, her long lashes lightly brushing his chest. She woke up with a slight start, at first not realizing who was holding her, but she soon recognized it as Sonic and looked up at his emerald green eyes.

"Good morning, Blaze," hw said gently to her with a grin. "Sleep well?"

"I slept perfectly, thanks," she replied, and none of them made a move to go away. Then, suddenly, both of them blushed, each of them realizing what they had been thinking in their heads. While Sonic had been noticing how beautiful Blaze was and how amazing her eyes were, Blaze had realized, not for the first time, how handsome Sonic was and how strong his arms were and how good it felt to be held in them.

They detached, somewhat reluctantly, then went into the main room, where there was no one in sight.

"Where is everyone?" Blaze asked.

To answer her question, Shadow and Aria came out of the room that they had been talking in. After Shadow's performance, Aria had been completely stunned and was amazed at how powerful he was, and as he demonstrated, with the light from his Chaos power making the ebony fur on his body slightly glow, making the red highlights in his fur seem deeper, seeing how sure and confident he was, his lean muscles poised and ready and knowing what to do, as the light reflected off of his ruby red eyes, which were determined, but had always been soft when he had looked at her…it seemed to take good-looking to a whole new level for her.

"Hey, Shad, where's everybody?" Sonic asked.

"I think that Amy dragged Lance somewhere," Shadow replied.

"And I heard Rose talking to Tails in the engine room," Aria added, looking at Shadow in a whole new way now as she seemed to just realize how handsome he really was. Quickly, before she could dwell on that fact—yes, it was a _fact_—she shook her head and cleared her mind of it.

"Well, also, I wanted to show Aria the beach," Shadow said, quickly thinking up an excuse for staying with the lovely cat longer. Aria looked at him questioningly, but she didn't say anything as she nodded towards Sonic and Blaze.

Blaze had seen that quick glance, and she smirked inwardly.

"OK," Sonic said, not sure if they really wanted his approval somehow; it seemed they did, though, because once he had told them that it was all right, Shadow had instantly grabbed Aria around the waist and used Chaos Control to teleport them to the beach.

"Hey, Blaze, you wanna go somewhere?" Sonic asked the lilac feline after Shadow and Aria were gone.

She looked at him. "Where?" was all she asked.

Sonic paused to think about it, and then he suddenly got the perfect idea as he grinned. "It'll be a surprise," he said with his grin still on his face as he took Blaze's hand, and he instantly sped off.

"You do know how much I hate surprises, right?" Blaze asked as they ran.

Sonic only grinned more.

After a minute or so, they were there, in the special meadow that only he knew about. When Blaze saw it, her breath was nearly taken away as she gazed at the landscape in wonder.

"Sonic…" she said, trailing off as she looked around her. There was green grass all over, and small, colorful flowers, purple and white and blue and yellow and red and pink, all lined a small pond that reflected the sunlight, making it bounce off of its undulating surface, playing with the sun's rays, scattering the light in different directions. More flowers dotted the ground, and there were trees, lone trees in places. There was a willow tree, its dropping branches seeming to be playing with its roots, the leaves trying to steal a kiss from the bottom, and there was also a few cherry blossom trees as well. The small, pink petals were gently tugged off of their branches by the gentle, soothing breeze, and they seemed to gently swirl around, landing softly on the floor, some of the petals landing on the surface of the small, clear blue pond, causing tiny, almost unnoticeable ripples to mark the surface before the ripples disappeared and the petals floated on top of the clear surface of the pond.

"It's…it's…" She couldn't find a word good enough to describe the place.

"I thought that you'd like it," Sonic grinned.

But then, that same, horrible feeling came to both of them at the exact same moment, the horrible feeling that something was wrong, something was amiss in this whole peaceful scene. On an impulse, Sonic went over to Blaze and started to slightly shield her with his arm; after that last incident with the Eggmen, he wasn't taking any chances with her safety.

But it wasn't the Eggmen.

Sonic and Blaze both gasped as they found the source of what was making them feel this way.

At first, if you saw it at a glance, it seemed like black smoke was suddenly coming out of the pond and out from behind the trees, as if darkness was suddenly appearing or your eyes were just hurting from looking at the sun too much. This darkness was much like that, thinking that it could be an optical illusion, that it was just those annoying black spots that appear in your vision after you stare at something to bright, and after you would blink away it would be gone.

But the dark masses were getting a shape. They were slowly forming into something, something that neither Sonic or Blaze could truly describe as except for one word: hideous. They seemed to be small blobs of shapeless monsters, and white eyes eventually formed, completely white, no irises or pupils, and it seemed like they had feet and hands but like they didn't at the same time. Their shape seemed to be forever changing, forever flickering, like they would never truly stay in one form for long.

"Sonic…" Blaze whispered, slightly frightened, "what…are _those_?"

"I'm not sure," Sonic replied quietly, slightly turning his head to look at her, then bringing his attention back on these strange things. "What are you!" he yelled at them, his voice showing that he was demanding an answer and wouldn't take anything else; in her fear, Blaze had gripped Sonic's arm, hating the way that she was acting like a scared little baby, but there was something truly wrong with this, because Sonic himself was having trouble not screaming and running away from these things.

Silence came from these things, and then, suddenly, they all spoke at once in a raspy, grating voice that didn't seem to be exactly coming from them, it seemed to be emanating from all around Sonic and Blaze.

"The Darkness will prevail," the things said, their voices low, like it would probably crack if they spoke any louder.

"What the heck!" Sonic exclaimed as Blaze's grip on his arm tightened.

This time, there was no answer from these things, these beings.

And, like they all had one single working mind, that they all were able to communicate with each other using only once brain, they all lunged at the exact same moment for Sonic and Blaze.

**A CLIFFY! WHEW, THIS TOOK ME A WHILE TO WRITE, I HOPE THAT THIS ISN'T DISAPPOINTING IN ANY WAY. BY THE WAY I HAD THE WHOLE NIGHTMARE THING WITH BLAZE PLANNED OUT FOR PRETTY MUCH FOREVER (ACTUALLY NO IT JUST CAME TO ME ABOUT A MONTH OR TWO AGO) AND I COULDN'T GET IT OUT OF MY HEAD. IT THAT SEEMS A BIT OVER DONE FOR YO UI'M SORRY, AND I HOPE THAT YOU ALL CONTINUE READING MY STORY, THANK YOU VERY MUCH, AND PLEASE REMEMBER TO REVIEW, REVIEW, REVIEW! ^^**


	8. The Shadows

_This chapter has slight foul language in it, but not that bad, and I think that it's time for you to get more into depth with what I'm doing. If you don't like it then just say so, I really won't mind at all._

Chapter 8

Once the strange black things were coming out from behind the trees in the lovely meadow that Amy had taken Lance to, the pink hedgehog let out a startled scream as Lance gently pushed her behind him.

"Stay calm," he told her gently.

"What…the…heck…are…_those_?" she said, her voice having trouble staying low.

"The Darkness's henchmen," Lance replied, his blue eyes cold as he looked at the dark shadow beings. "They're called 'penumbrae,' which means 'shadow beings' in an ancient language. Those things feed on others' fear, and they will try to make your very fears seem real, but you have to remember that all of what they do is an illusion."

"What type of things can they do?" Amy asked, peeking out from behind the silver hedgehog.

"They can make you feel pain, make what you fear most become reality."

"How do they know your fears?"

"They somehow can read your mind." At this, Amy let out a shudder, not liking the sound of these things at all, as she gripped on even harder to Lance's strong arm as he continued to shield her body with his arm.

Suddenly, a flash of red light went across Amy's vision, so quick that if she blinked she probably wouldn't've seen it. Lance had the same experience as her as well as the red light went across his vision as well, and he silently cursed.

"Damn it! They read our minds!" he growled under his breath. "I was hoping that maybe they wouldn't, oh, crap!"

As he said those words, however, a horrible image suddenly appeared in front of Amy, and she gasped.

"Cream!" she screamed, trying to run towards the rabbit, who was being held captive by robots. She didn't know where they had come from, but all she knew was that she had to reach her friend.

But Lance grabbed onto her arm and prevented her from going anywhere.

"Let me go!" Amy shrieked, tugging against him, but it was useless in his strong grip.

"Amy, it's just an illusion made from the penumbrae!" he hissed urgently as she continued to struggle against him, but then she understood what he was saying. It really wasn't Cream that she saw there, it wasn't real, it was fake. When she looked at him, his own eyes widened, and she saw something like pain flash across his face.

Because what he saw was Rose lying on the ground, hurt and screaming in pain. He was the only one who could hear the screams, the only one who could see the illusion of Rose. It took all of his strength not to run after her and help the little fox, even though he knew it wasn't real.

"Amy, stay here," Lance ordered her, his voice low. At that moment, she gripped onto him even more tightly, and, just like that, the illusions that both of them were seeing suddenly vanished, as if they had just never been there.

"Lance, what happened!" Amy asked, shocked.

"I…I don't know," he said, thinking, and then he saw that they were holding onto each other, that his arm was around her as she latched onto him like a lifeline of sorts, and he thought that he knew the reason.

"Amy, don't let go, I think that when we touch each other or something, the illusions don't work," he said.

Her green eyes frightened, she nodded as she held onto him even tighter, and he used his other arm to pull out his sword.

"I'm gonna destroy all you freaks!" he yelled at the penumbrae, the one thought nagging at his mind.

_If the penumbrae are already here…it hasn't even been a month yet…could The Darkness somehow be strong enough to travel between dimensions already…?_

In his anger, he held Amy closer to him, and he stared to swing the blade. In that one single thrust, he had severed many of the shadow beings in half, and they dispersed but slowly formed once more, as if they were truly shadows and there was nothing that could harm them.

Lance let out a growl as he continued to slice, wanting vengeance on the entities that were swarming around them. Amy pulled out her hammer and tried to help Lance, but, like his sword, it seemed to have no effect; when she slammed her hammer down, they just popped right back up as if she hadn't even touched them and smashed them into the ground.

"Lance, what's happening!" Amy shrieked in fear.

The silver hedgehog couldn't reply because he was trying to fight them off. But when he saw the fear in Amy's green eyes, sudden rage consumed him; he had never seen her this scared before, she had always been fine when she was around him, but now, the fear, the plain fear, made him angrier at these things.

His rage seethed inside of him, and when he continued to swing the blade, it was with much more force. And, amazingly, the things didn't reform once he sliced through them, as if his anger had fueled him with sudden energy that he had no idea what he had. Soon, with one final swing, all of the monsters were gone; they had just disappeared into the wind

"Oh…my…god…" Amy gasped, still clutching onto Lance's arm.

"They're gone, thank goodness," Lance panted, suddenly getting hit with the fatigue that he felt.

"Are you OK?" Amy asked anxiously.

"I'm fine, just exhausted," Lance replied, taking her hand. "It's all right, Amy, they're gone."

With a shaky nod, Amy felt slightly reassured by Lance's words and his comforting voice.

**ELSEWHERE, ABOUT TEN MILES FROM THE MEADOW, NEAR THE BEACH…**

"Aria, what are those!" Shadow exclaimed as the dark beings suddenly started to rise out of the sea and the sand. There seemed to be about a dozen of them, and the sea-green cat seemed to know what they were.

"Penumbrae," she replied, her voice barely a scared whisper. "They are The Darkness's henchmen, and they, like me, can manipulate others by using their fears or causing them pain."

The same red light that had flashed in front of Amy and Lance's eyes flashed across their own.

Shadow quickly blinked to get the light away. "What the hell was that?" he growled.

Aria cursed under her breath. "They read our minds."

Suddenly, in front of Shadow, Maria appeared, screaming his name. "Shadow! Shadow!" she screamed as the G.U.N. surrounded her and prodded her with their guns, telling her to confess where the Ultimate Life Form was.

"Maria!" The word was twisted from his throat like a strangled cry, and he immediately started to run when Aria stopped him, grabbing his wrist.

"Shadow, that's an illusion, the penumbrae read your mind and have located your fear," she hissed in his ear, her voice betraying her worry. "It's not real; they're just using it as bait against you!"

It took a little while for Shadow to understand what Aria was saying, but then he understood that this wasn't real, that he wasn't seeing Maria, that he wasn't really hearing her cries for help.

As Aria pulled Shadow back, she, herself, was having a hard time running up to the figure of Lance that she saw fallen on the ground, and next to that she saw Rose as well; it took all her strength and willpower to remember that it was an illusion, it wasn't real, it was just the penumbrae playing with her mind. But at the moment that Shadow and Aria made contact, when she sought his hand for comfort, when their fingers threaded through, the illusions just…vanished.

Shadow looked at Aria and saw the pain and fear flash through her gaze, and she tried to sing, but she knew that it was futile; these creatures weren't made of flesh and blood either, it was useless for her to try.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow yelled as the white bolts of Chaos energy shot out from his hands, hitting the shadows. But they seemed to simply reform, as if they were used to getting pierced through the heart with spears containing amazing energy. _Damn,_ the ebony hedgehog thought as he tried another move.

"Chaos Lance!" he tried again, but got the same results as before. He was trying not to power up his attacks to much, or else he would destroy the landscape and everything in it.

"Shadow, there's no way to destroy them, we just have to wait until…ah!" Aria cried out as her back arched in pain, her eyes shut as she let out a horrible scream that was tugged out of her.

"Aria!" Shadow yelled, running to her body, which crumpled to the ground. Her breathing was quick and rapid; her eyes squeezed shut as she screamed again. Horrible, blinding pain was flowing through her, pain that the penumbrae were giving her.

Shadow pushed some of Aria's hair out of her face and he saw that her eyes were shut, her breathing rapid and ragged with pain. At this, he suddenly felt his rage and fury pulse through him, the way that it always did when he saw someone he cared about hurt, like Maria…

As Aria continued to scream, Shadow's anger blinded him, and he shouted, "Chaos…_BLAST_!" And, with that, a brilliant white light shot out from his hands and suddenly engulfed the whole area, and when the white light cleared, there were no more of the shadow creatures.

As soon as they were gone, Aria's breathing calmed down. "Oh, god," she muttered weakly as she shut her eyes, trying to catch her breath.

"Are you all right?" Shadow asked.

"Does it look like I'm all right?" Aria snapped back, then moaned in pain again.

Shadow realized that she needed help immediately, but she seemed to know because she said, more softly and calmly now, "Don't bring me to a hospital, I'll be fine in a few minutes."

"You're hurt," Shadow persisted.

"Please, just…bring me back, Shadow," Aria pleaded, opening her lovely eyes.

Shadow nodded, and he then picked her up. She was extremely light, he realized, and he carried her like a baby, her legs draped over one of his arms and her neck being supported by the other. Aria closed her eyes, suddenly feeling safe and secure in Shadow's arms, and she laid her head on his chest, and he didn't mind her doing that one bit; instead, he held her closer to him, and she felt his strong arms around her and heard his heart beating strongly against his muscular chest. It gave her comfort, to feel that steady heartbeat and feel him holding her tight.

Then, he started to run, leaving a trail of dust clouds behind him.

**ELSEWHERE, IN THAT SPECIAL MEADOW THAT NO ONE KNOWS ABOUT…**

Like the battles between Lance and Amy, and Shadow and Aria, the fight with the penumbra was short, but it seemed to be stretched out at a length.

"Sonic, what are _they_?" Blaze asked, slightly scared, clutching onto his arm, trying not to let all of her fear show.

"I don't know, but I don't like the looks of them," he replied, then turned back to the shadow beings. "Hey, who are you, and whaddaya mean by 'The Darkness will prevail'?"

There was no answer from these things, they just lunged at Sonic and Blaze.

There were so many, more than two dozen, all rushing at once. But then, they all suddenly stopped, and that same, small streak of red light crossed in front of their visions, and they quickly blinked to get the light away.

"Whoa, what just happened?" Sonic asked aloud, and, as he said those words, a figure suddenly appeared in front of him, lying on the ground.

"Tails!" Sonic shouted, running towards his fallen friend. He had no idea how the twin-tailed fox had gotten here, he just knew that he had to reach Tails, had to somehow bring him to safety.

Blaze didn't know what Sonic was seeing; she didn't see Tails anywhere.

But who she did see twisted her heart.

"Cream! Marine!" she cried out, running towards the two little girls.

Once Sonic reached Tails, he suddenly realized that the orange fox vanished, replaced by one of the shadow things. When it lunged to bite him, he quickly dashed away just in time to save a nasty bite to his hand, and that was when he realized what these things were doing, understood what was happening.

"It's an illusion, Blaze!" Sonic called to her, but she couldn't hear him as she continued to go towards her friends. The moment that she reached them, the touched the shadow being that was Marine, and that was when it bit her as it suddenly transformed, showing its true identity, and as the sharp teeth made contact, Blaze let out a scream of pain.

"Blaze!" Sonic yelled as he ran over to her, and she fell to the ground in pain, her mouth open in pain. It hurt so much that, at this moment, there was no sound coming from her mouth, nothing, and soon she began to scream as it flowed through her. It was blinding and instantaneous, and it was truly horrible, like ice so cold that it burned her was going through her veins, and she screamed again. Even the shadow things winced slightly as she continued to shriek, and they backed away slightly.

As Sonic ran towards her, he didn't see the other shadow thing latch onto his leg, and it used its claws to scratch him across the leg.

"Damn!" Sonic exclaimed in pain as he quickly tugged the thing off, but at times it seemed to just allow his hand to pass through. Eventually, it got off of his leg, but there wasn't that much pain, he could deal, it was all right; the scratch only scathed the surface of his skin, but a bite was injected into the bloodstream.

"Blaze!" Sonic said as he reached her, once again holding her head. Her mouth was once again open, in so much pain that she couldn't form a noise, that she was barely conscious of Sonic here.

Blaze shrieked once more, and it was even worse for Sonic now to hear her screams like this. This was worse than before, worse than hearing her scream, because these were most desperate and more horrible, screams that couldn't come out of a breathing thing. As he continued to hear her scream in pain, once again, his fury pulsed through him, and he felt his dark aura start to come off of him, and he let out a loud growl as the transformation finished.

Once again, Dark Sonic had escaped.

The shadow things all seemed surprised as one; they backed away the moment that Dark Sonic took a step, feeling the raw power that was radiating from him in his anger. Without a word, Dark Sonic extended his hand, and all of the shadow beings just turned into dust. Amazingly, though, the attack didn't harm any of the trees, didn't make the lake dirty at all.

Dark Sonic looked away, his job was done; the enemy was obliterated. It had all happened so fast, so impossibly fast, but it seemed too slow on his terms, as he would look back on it, too slow.

The anger slowly came out of Dark Sonic, and his fur faded back to cobalt blue and his eyes turned emerald green again, and the dark aura that had pulsed around him went away.

The pain was slowly leaching away from Blaze now as her breathing began to slowly even out, slowly but surely, but there was still a faint trickle of something in her system that seemed to be staying there permanently.

Sonic looked down at Blaze, slightly wincing from the scratch that he had gotten, and he knelt down. "Blaze," he said gently, seeing if she was able to hear him, if she was still conscious.

Blaze's reply was a weak moan, all that she was able to manage, but she forced her eyes open to look at him. Sonic saw the pain that was in her beautiful golden eyes, and he shook his head again to clear his thoughts.

"Can you make it back?" Sonic asked her gently, the pain in his own leg ebbing away slowly, not too bad, almost as if it wasn't there.

"I'll try," Blaze barely croaked weakly, trying to ignore the pain. Blood welled from the bite on her arm, slowly trickling out, but when she tried to stand up it suddenly started to slow quickly from the energy she was using, almost making her slip in her own blood, and she collapsed; her legs were wobbly from the shock and the pain she had just endured.

Sonic went down and picked her up, but she protested. "Sonic, stop," she said, her old personality kicking in suddenly, having to do everything by herself, not having anyone help her; before, when she had gotten hurt, she had to find a cure herself, no one had helped her.

"You're hurt bad," Sonic replied, seeing more blood fall from her arm. Some of it had started to dry up slightly, leaving a darker red stain where it dried up, and some of it was dripping into the green grass.

And, even as she protested, Sonic started run away from the meadow which had become a battlefield.

**BACK AT TAILS'S WORKSHOP…**

Tails had just managed to place a barrier up Rose and him against the penumbrae. The little fox had told him all about them, about how they used mind tricks to make you go crazy and fall victim to them. Then, Tails discovered that the shadow thingies couldn't get through a special shield that he had made, and that if he and Rose made contact, they wouldn't see the illusions.

"Tails, what are we going to do, we can't just hide behind this barrier forever," Rose said, her worry straining her voice.

"Don't worry; I have a little surprise for these freaks," Tails reassured her, and he added, "I think that you should close your eyes."

Rose listened, and her shut her eyes and placed her arm across her eyes for good measure. Tails closed his own eyes, pressed a button on the remote in his hands that controlled the shield, and in that instant a brilliant white light surrounded the shield. Even though their closed eyes, they both saw the flash of light that was blindingly white. The penumbrae, which had been climbing up against the shield, trying to get in, were no longer there any longer, Tails had vaporized them and reduced them to ashes.

They waited a few minutes before putting the shield down, and, once they were sure that the penumbrae were totally gone, that they had been turned into nothing at all, they let down the shield's guard, just in time to see Shadow run in, carrying Aria with him; she had gotten better, but she couldn't run nearly as fast as Shadow was able to.

"Rose, the penumbrae!" Aria exclaimed once Shadow set her down.

"I know, we got attacked, too!" Rose replied.

Lance and Amy arrived at that moment, and, judging by Amy's still slightly scared expression, Tails guessed that they had, as well, had a run-in with the shadow creatures.

"How could the penumbrae be here!" Lance yelled. "It hasn't even been a month yet!"

"Maybe The Darkness is stronger than we originally thought it was," Aria suggested quietly.

"But if it had to use any of its forms to come it, wouldn't it come in a storm?" Rose asked.

Tails and Shadow and Amy were slightly confused, but they didn't say anything, just listened intently to the conversation.

"Maybe it isn't strong enough just yet, but maybe it's testing out to see whether we are strong enough to defeat it or not," Shadow suddenly suggested as he thought about what they had all said.

"But still…why the penumbrae? Why not the umbrae themselves, or a violent thunderstorm?" Lance said, voicing his thoughts aloud as he pondered the problem that seemed to have no answer.

"I don't know," Rose murmured softly. "It's making no sense."

"We just have to stay ready, we don't want to get attacked like we did before," Tails suggested.

Amy had stood silent this whole time, still recovering from the shock, then she realized that something was missing from this scene…

"Where's Sonic and Blaze?" she asked, suddenly remembering.

"I don't know, but I think they went somewhere," Shadow replied.

"Why aren't they back yet?" she asked, her voice becoming more and more worried. What if the penumbrae had taken them? What if something worse had happened to them, what if they ran into the Eggmen again, what if…?

At that moment, in a gust of wind, Sonic appeared, carrying Blaze, who had given up protesting once she realized that Sonic's mind was completely set on carrying her to safety.

"What the hell happened!" Amy shrieked as she saw all the blood on Blaze.

"It's fine," Blaze replied, her voice slightly rough, and Sonic put her down on the floor. But, she still did need support, so she slightly leaned against his shoulder as he supported her weight easily.

"What _were_ those things?" Sonic asked as he gave Blaze support. "They were, like, shadow beings that were almost undefeatable, and they made illusions of our words fears and stuff."

"Those were the penumbrae," Lance explained, "henchmen of The Darkness. You see, The Darkness has henchmen, forms of him that are small bits and pieces of him and his power, separated into categories that are stronger and weaker. The penumbrae, the shadow beings, are the weakest of his henchmen; then there are the umbrae themselves, which are massive and can make you feel fear out of nowhere, having no idea why you're frightened. And the storms…well, that just speaks for itself, in a violent storm the world could be destroyed, in a forest fire or a natural disaster like that."

"So, The Darkness itself is more powerful than all of that?" Tails asked.

"More powerful than you can imagine," Aria replied softly.

"This _could_ be a problem," Sonic said. "Maybe we should tell Knuckles."

"I have a feeling that they probably attacked him as well; do you think that it was just a coincidence that it attacked each of us? Maybe The Darkness knows who the powerful people are," said Shadow.

"You have a point there, Shad," Sonic replied. "Probably right, too."

"I…I need to leave, it's all too much," Amy suddenly said. She turned to leave, going under the moonlight which had slowly come along as time had passed, and she quickly said good-bye before leaving.

Everyone else, exhausted, got ready for rest as well.

But there was something wrong with Sonic and Blaze.

Like the night before, Blaze allowed Sonic to stay with her; she realized that his presence there soothed her nightmares, because, before, in her home, she had nightmares of the things of the past, but last night, she had none as Sonic held her. So, she placed her head in his lap and was out like a light in barely a few seconds as Sonic leaned against the wall.

Though, in both of their dreams, something interrupted them.

"Sonic the Hedgehog, you seem to be a very powerful opponent," a horrible, grating voice sounded in the blue hedgehog's dreams, and his eyes flickered slightly as the small scratch in his leg burned. "A powerful opponent, yes, but also an amazingly powerful asset to me as well; I can give you an opportunity to join me and my quest, or else you will perish with the rest of them, and feel this as well."

In his dream, Sonic let out a cry of agony as pain exploded in his head, as if someone had just blown out his brains and some of his guts as well, and if they were filling it with acid and making it burn away what was left of him.

"You will do my bidding, or else you will feel that," the voice said. "You are now my puppet."

"Sorry to disappoint you, but I'm not anybody's damn puppet," Sonic growled, then arched his back in agony as horrible pain hit him once more, even worse than what had happened originally.

"You actually believe that you will be able to stand against The Darkness?" the voice said, amused. "Well, you are more cocky in your attitude than I thought that you were; my offer still stands. And, to prove your loyalty to me, you must go away from your friends and not come back until I say, which will probably not be soon at all.."

"I'm never doing anything that you say," Sonic snarled, and agony once again exploded behind his eyes, and he began to scream, let out horrible cries of pain. It wouldn't stop, wouldn't let up, it just kept on getting worse and worse.

Meanwhile, in Blaze's dream, something very similar was happening to her.

"Blaze the Cat, you, as well, seem to be a very opponent," that horrible voice said, and it was such a horrible voice that she couldn't describe it, and the bite that was on her arm started to burn, like ice. "Your power over fire makes you a deadly opponent, but also an amazingly powerful helper to me as well; I will offer to give you an opportunity to join me or perish with the rest of your puny little friends, and you will feel this."

Blaze suddenly let out a shriek of agony as that same pain exploded in her head, like if someone had just used a huge claw to tear out her organs and was filling all the gaps with ice so cold that it burned.

"You will do as I say, or else you will feel that," the voice said. "You are now my puppet, a plaything, my interesting toy."

"I'm not anybody's toy, and you can't threaten me," Blaze hissed, but then the pain suddenly came once more, worse than before.

"You believe that you are strong enough to stand against The Darkness?" the voice in her dream asked, seeming amused. "Well, I can see that you are a very proud person, but I still give you a chance, my offer is still available; but to prove your loyalty to me, you will have to burn one of those that are closest to you."

"I'm not listening to you," she growled, and the horrible, unbearable pain exploded once more behind her eyes, and she began to scream more than she had been before, and her body began to arch back in the agony; it just wouldn't let up, it got more and more horrible.

She woke up, startled, her eyes snapping open as Sonic was telling her to calm down, to shush, because it was all right.

She turned to him, and she noticed that there was something wrong with him. "What happened?" she asked him gently. "I'm sorry for keeping you up all the time like this," she added.

"It's fine; I wasn't able to sleep much anyway tonight," he replied truthfully.

"Why?" asked Blaze.

She had told him her nightmare when he asked, so Sonic only felt that it was fair to tell her about his, so he did. After he finished, he said, "I think that The Darkness got into my head from that wound from the penumbrae."

"Sonic…that was almost exactly like my nightmare," Blaze gasped. "Sonic…" She didn't have to say any more; he knew.

"Yes, Blaze," he said. "The Darkness is now inside of our heads from the scratch that I got and the bite that you got from the penumbrae, and I don't think that he'll easily give up trying to get us to join his side."

**All right, this is the 8****th**** chapter in my story, and this chapter was kinda made in a rush, so…yeah, anyway, the next chapter, I'm gonna work really hard on it, and it'll probably be way better than this one, because, well, this one was mostly getting my thoughts out on the computer and stuff…well I wanted to thank all of you who have reviewed, thanks, the criticism and praise has helped me a lot, thank you! ^^ I hope that you continue to faithfully read my story!**


	9. Memories

Chapter 9

"Rouge!" Knuckles shouted in fear as the white bat collapsed on the ground, letting out a yell of pain as the shadow creatures swarmed around them. They had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, seeming to have materialized from thin air, and they had suddenly made Knuckles' and Rouge's fears come to life and appear before their eyes; Rouge had been seeing that someone was taking away the Chaos Emeralds, and she had tried to follow it, but then she realized that it wouldn't make any sense at all, and Knuckles had seen someone else running off with the Master Emerald in his hands, but then he had realized that the great Emerald was behind him on its pedestal. When Rouge had accidentally grabbed Knuckles' arm, though, they noticed that both of the things that they had been seeing before were gone, vanished without a trace, and all Knuckles knew was when he and Rouge touched that the illusions disappeared.

He had fought the shadow beings, giving them hard punches with his fist, but it always seemed to manage to go through them like they were just mist. Rouge kept a death grip on his arm once she saw that his powerful punched weren't harming the things in the least.

That was when sudden pain exploded behind her, hurting her ears, as if some incredibly high-pitched noise, so high pitched that it wasn't able to be heard by normal ears but hurt her sensitive bat ones suddenly had appeared out of nowhere. She had collapsed, causing Knuckles to shout her name as she writhed on the floor on her agony, seething through her teeth.

As Knuckles looked down at her, he felt his anger swell at these things; _How dare they hurt her!_ he thought viciously, and he turned away from Rouge's body to face the freaks.

"You…you're gonna pay!" Knuckles yelled in anger, and he started to punch incredibly strong and fast. The shadows seemed to get scared and started to flee, but the echidna wouldn't give them that satisfaction, and he continued to punch wildly until he was able to see past the swirling mist of anger that had clouded his vision moments before, blinding him with the need for revenge. There were no more of the shadow freaks that hurt Rouge, and she wasn't writhing in pain any more, it was slowly, ever so slowly but surely, leaching away from her.

"Rouge, are you all right?" Knuckles asked her worriedly.

"What does it look like?" Rouge snapped back.

"I'm just trying to help," Knuckles said indignantly, getting defensive. "I was worried about you, all right?"

He hadn't intended for those words to come out from his mouth, but they had, and there was no taking them back, and there was no convincing Rouge that she had heard otherwise; he had admitted that he was worried about her, and Rouge had to force herself not to slightly smile, but she softened.

"I didn't know," she said quietly. "But it's going away now, I'll be fine soon," she reassured him, not exactly sure where all this softness was coming from, where all these reassuring words and kind tones were originating from. Certainly not from her; no, she was usually a passive gal, nothing could hurt her, nobody was able to catch her, and she thought it was fun to keep the men guessing. But softness in her? It was something so strange that she vaguely wondered if she had someone else' brain in her skull.

_Well, whoever switched our brains could've given me some warning,_ she thought to herself. _It would've been nice to know that I was suddenly going to become soft._

But she knew that it wasn't getting her brain switched with someone else's. It was her, somehow, in some way, she had been soft.

Knuckles' eyes widened; he obviously couldn't believe that Rouge could ever be this soft. "OK, who are you and what have you done with Rouge?" he asked her as his eyes widened more.

"I'm a decoy and the real Rouge is somewhere else," Rouge said, rolling her eyes. _Sarcasm gets sarcasm back,_ she thought with dry amusement as she continued by saying, "But the real Rouge will only be set free if you agree to our terms."

Knuckles was slightly amused, but he felt like he shouldn't give Rouge the satisfaction; but a small smile appeared on his face, making his whole figure seem slightly less intimidating than it always was.

And that was when Rouge noticed how much she liked it when Knuckles smiled.

**BACK AT TAILS' WORKSHOP…**

_I'm coming for you. In the end, you will see reason, and you shall join me, and you shall be a very valuable asset to my army._

_Get the hell out of my head,_ Sonic thought harshly, trying to get the horrible voice away.

Two days had passed since the fight each of them had with the penumbrae, and it seemed that they knew that they were splitting up, because a dozen of them or so were going up against two of them. Lance and Amy had fought them in The Meadow, the huge one that many went to; Shadow and Aria had gotten into a clash with them at the shore of the beach; Tails and Rose had gotten attacked back here at the workshop; and Sonic and Blaze had fought off the demons in a special meadow that didn't exactly have a name yet.

One thing was certain: The Darkness was extremely powerful, if this was what the weakest of its henchmen could do.

_Sonic, you do realize how weak you are without help, don't you? You need to become angry, you need to feel the anger eat away at your body before you become Dark Sonic._

_Shut up,_ the blue hedgehog thought, not wanting to remember.

Ever since the battle, when he and Blaze had gotten wounds from the penumbrae, they both kept on hearing this voice in their head, and they had figured out that it was The Darkness, trying to turn them to its side. And if it didn't get what it wanted, then they felt pain so horrible that it was almost irrevocable and unbelievably agonizing.

_If you join me, you shall be as powerful as Dark Sonic when you are completely calm; you won't need to rely on your emotions, you won't need to rely on your anger to become as powerful as that. I can help you, and you can help me._

_OK, how did you know about all of this?_ Sonic asked the voice inside of his head, which seemed to answer him.

_I can read all of your thoughts,_ the voice, The Darkness, said, seeming amused. _I know everything; I know that with the Chaos Emeralds you transform into Super Sonic, an extremely powerful form maybe even more powerful than Dark Sonic himself; I know that you will do anything to protect those you care about, your friends; I know that you don't really know about your past, that you don't seem to care that much about that fact; and I know that you are extremely powerful. I can help you, Sonic, if only you just try to join me._

_I'm never helping you. So you might as well give up now, because I'm not changing my mind._

_I think you will after this._

With that, Sonic struggled not to let the pain show, but blinding, instantaneous pain flashed behind his eyes, and he nearly cried out with pain. The scratches, the claw marks from the penumbrae that were on his leg burned as the pain continued to flood him. No one else was there in that room with him, but he was sure that if he let out a cry of agony that it would be heard rooms away; he didn't want Tails to rush into the room and ask him what was wrong, because he didn't want him or any of the others worrying about him, so he did the only thing that he was able to do, and he ran out of the room and started to dash across the moorlands.

Blaze had been talking with Aria in her room; Rose was still watching Tails work and upgrade his gadgets and things, and the small cherry fox never seemed to lose interest in his work, she was just as fascinated every time that Tails did something as she was the first time that she saw him and his work; Lance was more and more often hanging out with Amy, and she didn't seem to mind at all, in fact, she was the one who dragged him along with her to lots of new places. And Shadow just was a loner, but he was visiting more often, in fact, he had just come yesterday, and the chances were that he was coming again today.

"Blaze, do you know what's wrong with Sonic?" Aria asked.

"I'm not completely sure." A lie. "But I'm getting slightly worried." That part was the truth. Yes, The Darkness was trying to get her on its side as well, but it seemed that it was trying to get Sonic more than it was trying to get her. It seemed to speak to him more than it spoke to her, it was trying desperately to make him join its side.

"He's been acting…not like himself lately," Aria said quietly, more like to herself.

"I hope that he'll be all right," Blaze said, trying not to make her fear of what The Darkness was doing to Sonic evident. She knew that he was feeling worse than he was letting on to the others, because he didn't want them all to worry about him. That was just the type of person that he was.

_In the end, you will join me after you realize that it is pathetic to defy me,_ The Darkness suddenly said in her head. _Yes, Sonic is definitely a more powerful ally than you would be, but still, you would also be very valuable to my collection._

_Stop hurting Sonic; leave him alone,_ she hissed in her head. _Just stop, leave us alone, we'll never join you, no matter what you do._

_Ah, princess, you have no idea how wrong you are there,_ The Darkness said, its voice sounding like a chuckle of sorts, a horrible sound.

_How do you know about that?_ It could probably hear the surprise in her thoughts, she guessed.

_My dear, I know everything about you, because I have poked through your little mind. It's quite simple, really, and I know everything about you and your past. I know you don't believe me, so I will tell you to show you that I know about you. Let's see, where to begin?_ At this, The Darkness seemed amused and sly. _Well, you are the princess of your dimension, the last of the royal line, and the rightful Guardian of the Sol Emeralds; the people didn't want you and treated you cruelly, and you were always shunned because of your flames, your inherent power over fire, not liked, unwanted, and unable to control your fiery temper; you grew up alone and isolated, not allowing yourself to show any emotions, because then your flames would be unleashed, and that wouldn't be anything good to your reputation of already being a monster._

_Shut up,_ Blaze seethed.

Aria noticed that something was going on in Blaze's head, but she didn't inquire, she just waited. She wasn't sure what was going on, but she only knew that Blaze had to take care of it herself, she couldn't help with anything that was going on in the other cat's head; she would have to wait for Blaze to tell her the whole entire truth.

_You would have been a cold, emotionless shell if it weren't for Sonic and his friends, and you know that you are the disgrace of the royal family, of the Guardians of the Sol Emeralds. There was one other who was eligible, but he was not the son of the king and queen; how unfortunate for the people of your dimension, instead of having a strong, sturdy leader who could control his power, they have a girl who is a disappointment, a disgrace, and who cannot control her temper and could harm her people without knowing._ It seemed to be laughing now at her.

_You have no idea what I've been through, so just leave me alone!_

_You must join me, and I will never bring that up again. I can help you, Blaze. With me and my power and training, you would be more powerful than when you are angry and your flames aid you, you could be more powerful than that when you are completely calm and collected. You would be able to control your power, the people would accept you once more, and you could be the greatest ruler that was ever seen. I can help you, princess._

_Go away!_

Irrevocable pain suddenly exploded inside of her, and it was all she could do not to scream. Aria saw that she was in pain, though, heard the lilac cat's sharp intake of breath, saw the pain that flashed across her golden eyes as she gripped onto the edge of the bed with such force that Aria was sure that there were going to be indentations of fingers on the bed frame.

The pain eventually ebbed away, and The Darkness wasn't talking to her any more, she was safe from it, for now.

Aria looked at Blaze, worry clouding her interesting red-violet eyes. "Blaze, what happened?" she asked her softly, trying not to bring too much attention towards them; Tails and Rose maybe could hear, and they would barge into see what was wrong.

Blaze shook her head. "Nothing's wrong," she lied again.

"Blaze, I want to help you, what's happening?" the sea-green cat persisted.

"I…I can't tell you, Aria," Blaze answered, hating herself for what she was doing.

"Why not?" Aria asked her, crossing her arms against her chest.

"Because I can't describe it, and I don't want others worrying," Blaze replied stiffly.

It dawned on Aria why Blaze wasn't telling her; she cared too much about the others to risk them knowing what she was going through, she wanted to bear it alone so that others wouldn't have to feel…whatever she was feeling.

"Please, try to understand," said Blaze.

"Don't worry, I get it," Aria reassured her.

Blaze gave her a nod, glad that the other cat understood. In a way, it helped her feel less guilty about hiding the truth about what The Darkness was doing to her and Sonic.

_You are nothing but a plaything, a toy, a puppet._

_I don't think so, because I've got my friends to help me,_ she thought back confidently, and her snappy remark seemed to make The Darkness shut up and think about what she had just said.

**THREE DAYS LATER…**

Like they had all agreed before, they all met up at Angel Island in a month. Shadow had come to Tails' workshop and spread the word to Knuckles, who was expecting their arrival. It was everyone, meaning Sonic, Blaze, Shadow, Aria, Tails, Rose, Lance, Knuckles, Amy, and Rouge. The pink hedgehog and white bat had both insisted that they were allowed to stay, so now they were with them.

"Well, one thing that we know about The Darkness is that its henchmen, the penumbrae, have the power to make out fears seem to become a reality," Sonic started off. "Do you guys know what the umbrae do?" he asked Lance, Aria, and Rose.

"The umbrae are much, much more powerful than the penumbrae are," Aria began, her voice soft and scared.

"The umbrae themselves can make your fears even more realistic than the penumbrae can, because they can actually make the scenery that you see change, make you see the place where your fears are happening," Lance explained. "They can also make you feel fear for no apparent reason at all, and they also have the most power. And another thing they do, they not only create your fears, but they also can make your deepest desires come to life, like, if you want to, in the future, have lots of money or something, you can see yourself surrounded by the piles of money, and you go towards that illusion and then they strike."

"They are also much harder to defeat than the penumbrae themselves," Rose added.

"We can't train for something like that," Knuckles objected. "There's nothing that we could do, because we aren't completely sure on what The Darkness will do to us; will it come as penumbrae, umbrae, a storm, or just all three together?"

"We're not sure, but we'll have to get stronger," Shadow said, speaking up for a change. "After that last fight with the penumbrae, I think that we all could use with some toughening up."

In Aria's personal opinion, as she looked at the lean muscles that lined his arms and chest, she didn't think that he needed any more working out, but she kept her mouth shut and chased that thought away.

"Wait, one question; could they be able to manipulate us somehow?" Amy suddenly asked. "Like, could they cause so much pain that they could use us as their puppets without our own realizing it?"

"The only way that they would be able to do that would be to somehow get a wound from the penumbrae, like a scratch or something, and then The Darkness would be able to enter your mind and will be able to talk to you," Lance said. "No, it hasn't happened to me, but I've seen it happen to my friends, and—" He stopped himself before he started to slightly choke on his breath. His best friend, Gale, had been one of the most loyal buds that you could get, and he had been controlled by The Darkness, and, eventually, he had been destroyed, along with the rest of their home.

As Lance said that, Sonic inconspicuously brought his right leg behind his left slightly, so that no one would have a clear view of the scratches, and Blaze slightly shielded her right arm with her back, bringing it slightly back and ever so slightly turning her body so that no one could see the bite. She and Sonic exchanged a quick glance, knowing now how The Darkness got into their heads; they had guessed before, but now they were completely positive of the source.

Aria, though, noticed this. She, out of herself, Lance, and Rose, was the most attentive of the three, usually seeing small, tiny details that neither of them caught on until much later. But she saw the small movements from Sonic and Blaze, saw their glance exchanged, and she had a feeling that they knew something else that they wouldn't tell them, something that would probably make them worry.

"But The Darkness won't completely control them," Rose said, seeing how hard it was for Lance. "It depends on what the person chooses, but usually The Darkness gets its way, because it uses pain and threatens you, and it will carry out those threats. It depends if the person allows themselves to be controlled by The Darkness, if they allow it to get a hold of them and to control their bodies, like they're its puppets."

Lance remembered. The Darkness had told Gale that it was going to kill Amethyst, his younger sister, and Kate, who was his girlfriend. The gray wolf didn't believe the threats at first, but when he saw the younger white wolf lying on the floor, dead, he had felt rage and began to be worried for Kate, but he still wasn't sure if The Darkness had killed her or if it was just cruel fate. Gale found out, too late, that it wasn't fate, when he saw the beautiful golden fox, Kate, dead at the hands of the umbrae. He then agreed to follow The Darkness' orders, since it took away his very reasons for existing, and that was then The Darkness didn't need his assistance any more and he perished with the rest of Lance's world.

"So, the person makes the choice?" Rouge asked, to make sure that she heard right. "Well, if that's the case, then why don't they just say no?"

"Because The Darkness will threaten them, and if threatening them doesn't work, then it will threaten those that are close to them," Aria said, noticing that it was too painful for Lance to relive the whole scenario with Gale. She herself had been good friends with Kate and Amethyst, but she wasn't as close to them as Lance had been with Gale.

"Basically, it'll do anything to get its way," Knuckles said to sum it up, more like a question to make sure he got it right.

Aria and Rose nodded; Lance, however, was still clouded in grief. Amy noticed, and she went over to him and whispered, "Hey, Lance, you OK?"

He looked at her, looked into her green eyes, which were worried about him; he hadn't told anyone about the thing with Gale, no one knew except Aria and Rose.

"I'll tell you later," he said quietly, and she nodded, satisfied.

"We can't do anything really to prepare except to wait, and to get all the Emeralds," Aria finished.

"Well, we have all of the Chaos Emeralds," Tails said, suddenly speaking. He had been silent during the whole conversation, trying to think of a way to catch The Darkness off guard, based on what they had been saying.

"And we've already located three of the Sol Emeralds," Blaze added. After her fight with Eggman Nega, and after they had been transported to Sonic's world once more, the Sol Emeralds had scattered themselves again. They had found three, which meant that all they needed to do was to find four more, and then they would have to await the inevitable.

"So, after that, all that we'll be able to do is wait," Shadow said, his voice nearly a growl. He hated feeling so…powerless like this, like there wasn't anything that he could do to prepare for what was going to happen.

"Shadow, there's no way that we can train ourselves, except be on our guard all the time," Aria said quietly into his ear. Hearing her voice made his anger calm down slightly.

"We should start looking for the Emeralds now," Sonic suggested, still trying to hide his scratches, thinking of a believable reason as to why he had claw marks on his leg if anyone noticed.

"And I think that the Master Emerald should be watched; maybe The Darkness would be able to use the power of the Chaos Emeralds, and if it gets hold of the Master Emerald, then…" Knuckled couldn't finish the thought.

Everyone was in agreement to what the hedgehog and echidna had just said.

"Well, I guess that we'll see you guys later, then, Knuckles, Rouge," Sonic said as he grabbed Lance's hand. Tails offered to bring Rose back by flying her over to the workshop, and Blaze automatically took Aria's hand.

Knuckles nodded, eyes closed. "Be careful, Sonic," he cautioned.

Sonic smirked. "You're telling me?" he asked wryly.

Amy went over to Lance and said softly, "You can tell me whenever you feel like it." Her green eyes were worried for him as she spoke softly and reassuringly to him.

"Not now, but I promise, later," he vowed, his mind still in the world of grief.

With a nod, Amy went off once more, saying good-bye to Lance and looking at him with sympathy in her eyes, wishing that there was something that she could do to help him, but she knew the only thing that she could do was to wait and let him tell her when he needed to.

Before they left, Shadow leaned in and said softly to Blaze, "I'll look for the Sol Emeralds as well."

"Thanks," Blaze said with a small, grateful smile towards the ebony hedgehog.

And then she dashed off with Sonic, and Tails twirled his twin tails and started to fly back. Rose was enjoying the view from up here, how clear everything seemed from higher off the ground, how much faster and safer it felt than running with Sonic. Honestly, she didn't exactly like it, because she felt sure that she was going to trip and mess everything up, and Sonic did go extremely fast—almost as fast as the speed of sound, to be exact. But as Tails held her and they flew, she felt perfectly safe and didn't feel like she was going to make Tails mess up and drop her in any way.

She had to say that she preferred it much more to the other alternative.

Once they reached the workshop, Tails said, after he placed Rose on the ground, "We should probably split up and look for the Sol Emeralds that way, so that we can cover more ground in less time."

"Good idea, Tails, but who goes with who?" Sonic asked. "I mean, will it be only one person looking for one Emerald, or will it be a team?"

"I've been thinking, and I think that you, Blaze, Aria, and Lance should split up," Tails replied confidently. He had this all planned out as they had the conversation and he had thought about tactics to defeat The Darkness, and obtaining the rest of the Sol Emeralds had been on top of his list. "Rose can stay here with me at the workshop, and we can make sure that no one steals the Chaos Emeralds or the Sol Emeralds from here. And, anyway, Rose helps me out a lot when I'm fixing my machines, and it's nice to have a hand to help me out," he said after he saw Sonic grin a knowing grin. His best friend knew that it was totally obvious that Tails liked Rose, but he didn't say it aloud, so that his best bud wouldn't be embarrassed. Rose looked at Tails with the green eyes that he found so mesmerizing, and he realized that he was blushing like an idiot.

"Good plan," Lance agreed, "and we should head in different directions, so that we don't run into each other, and so that we don't cover the same area that someone else did."

"I'll go north," Sonic offered.

"I'll travel south," Aria added.

"I'll take east," Blaze said as she contributed.

"West is mine, then," Lance finished, and they all ran off in their respective directions.

**FOLLOWING LANCE TO THE BEACH…**

West was his direction, and west was the seashore and the beach. Lance honestly liked the sun, the waves, the soothing calmness of the whole scene as the warm and salty air was tinged with the smell of the ocean, the sand under his feet.

He walked along the coastline, as the memories of Gale suddenly crushed him like a blow. Gale, his best friend, was about one of the best and kindest people that you would ever meet. He had been a gray wolf with dark brown eyes, and he had been talented as well, but he wasn't exactly a protector of their home because it wasn't really that much of a power. He had the ability to control winds, though only when he was angry, and he wasn't usually the type of guy that got angry, ever; in fact, he was mostly calm and level-headed and fun to be around. Amethyst, his younger sister, had been a white wolf with light violet eyes that had been very light in color, and Lance remembered that he had used to have a crush on her, but then he just realized that she just wasn't right for him, she just wasn't the one that he would be with, and both of them knew it. Kate was a golden fox with orange eyes that sometimes seemed darker or lighter in color, depending on the lighting that was in the room or on the scenery.

The whole thing was so clear. He and Gale had been walking around, it was just a normal day, when Gale had confessed about The Darkness being in his head once more. He had gotten into a fight with the penumbrae, and he had forgotten, because they had shown Kate lying on the ground, and he had run over to the shadow beings and he had gotten bitten. And Gale had told Lance that The Darkness had been threatening him more and more every day, saying that it would take away those he loved if he didn't join it.

At first, neither Lance nor Gale had bought it; they thought that it had been a bunch of crap. But a few days later, a scream had been heard in Gale's house as they were walking to his place, and Lance had recognized Amethyst's scream, and both of the boys had bolted towards the door.

It was too late; she was lying on the floor, and her killer, none of them had seen. Lance was fairly sure that it was one of the umbrae that had killed her and left her lying on the floor, to strike fear in Gale's heart.

The white wolf's violet eyes were already fading, the light going out as blood pooled around her body from where the umbra had done something to her, bitten her or scratched her so deep that it had become a terminal wound. She was nearly gone, so weak, and all Gale could do was hold her hand tightly as she weakly tried to return the gesture, but being futile at it.

"Gale…please…don't give in…to The Darkness…please…" Amethyst barely whispered, her voice almost inaudible.

"I won't, I promise," Gale murmured back, pushing some of her snow-white hair that had fallen in front of her eyes behind her ear, as her violet eyes continued to lose the familiar spark that they always had; it was fading away as her breaths had become shallower. Lance felt pain as he saw her like this, but it was mostly seeing Gale in such grief that angered him and made his pain deepen even more.

"Thank you…" she whispered, and then she let out a slow breath and her eyes closed.

Her breathing never started again, and her eyes never opened once more.

In his rage, a storm of windy fury started around Gale as he let out a cry that didn't seem that it was able to be made by a living thing, a cry of loss and the need for vengeance of this death. Once she had passed away, he had taken extra precautions to make sure that Kate was all right, but The Darkness had sent one off the umbrae to kill her when she was at her home, and Gale and Lance were just in time to see the fleeting shadowy form of the umbra that had murdered her disappear through the walls.

"Gale," Kate whispered as he held her head in his hands, gently, weakly, touching his cheek, "it'll be fine." The life was fading out of her interesting orange eyes already, the sparkle that Gale had loved now leaving.

"Kate…don't go," Gale was barely able to choke out. Lance couldn't do anything, he knew, he wasn't able to ease his best friend's pain. He could do nothing but just be there for him when he needed him.

Gale gently kissed Kate, their lips barely touching, but still a kiss. "I love you," Gale murmured.

"Gale…I love you too," Kate replied, and then her hand went limp and the last breath escaped her body.

"No…NO!" Gale screamed as wind picked up around him, and he closed his eyes shut against something suddenly. Lance knew that The Darkness was speaking to him, causing him pain in his head.

Gale's brown eyes were frightened and furious when they looked at Lance, both at the same time; it wasn't directed at the silver hedgehog, it was directed at the entity that had murdered the two who he was closest to.

"Lance, I can't do this any more; The Darkness will kill you next," Gale said softly. "I have to join him now; Kate and Amethyst are gone, my reasons for actually existing…" His eyes darted towards Kate's dead body on the floor, and it seemed that the natural glow was fading already from her golden fur, and his eyes were shiny and wet with unshed tears, but his eyes were filled with cold fury behind the tears that were almost threatening to overflow.

"Gale, you can't let The Darkness control you…" Lance started. "You promised Amethyst, remember?"

"That was before The Darkness started to threaten everyone. It said at first that it was going to kill my little sister, and when I didn't believe it he sent something to murder Amethyst. Then it said that it was going to kill the one that I love most—my soul mate, it said—and I wasn't sure if it was completely bluffing about hurting Kate, but now…" He continued to look at the golden fox's lifeless body, and wind started to pick up around him; Lance took a stance to make sure that he wasn't blown away by the fierce winds.

"And The Darkness said that you were next, Lance," Gale continued, and his pain was in his voice. "It said that you were going to be the next one if I don't join its army, and after you, it already said that it's going to get Aria and Rose. I can't put all of your lives on the line, I just can't do something like that."

"I don't care, Gale; you just can't let The Darkness control you like this!" Lance exclaimed.

"My reasons for living are gone, my sister and the girl that I loved," the gray wolf said, his voice nearly choking with grief. "And I can't let The Darkness hurt by best friend as well, Lance. I'm allowing him to take over me, there's no point in fighting any more. I won't win."

"Gale…"

"Lance, there's nothing that you can do that will change my mind; no matter what, I'll do what it takes to keep the rest of you safe, and I don't care if I live or die any more."

"Well, _I_ do."

"I'm sorry, but that's not a good enough reason for me." Gale looked at him with rueful eyes. "All I ask is that you remember me by the good things that I've done in the past, all right?"

"Don't go, Gale," Lance pleaded.

"The Darkness said to meet it somewhere at midnight, though I'm not telling you so that you don't follow me," Gale finished. "Lance, I can't let anyone else die because I'm being stubborn."

And, with that, winds suddenly surrounded Gale, and the next moment, he was gone.

After that, Lance tried to desperately search for him, but to no avail; his fruitless task made him even angrier at The Darkness and what it was doing to his friends, to the people that he cared about. After he told Aria and Rose everything that had happened, they both instantly offered to help look for where Gale was and try to make him come back.

But when they at last found the gray fox, their world was already crumbling to lifeless rocks, and everyone was dying as The Darkness ravaged the planet, and Lance knew that it was feeding off of the energy of the core of the planet. People were dying all around him, but he had seen a familiar fleck of gray fur, and he had run over to him, with Aria and Rose following him.

"Gale," Lance said, shocked.

"Lance…I'll finally be with Amethyst and Kate again…" Gale said weakly as he closed his brown eyes, shutting them against whatever pain he was feeling. "Turns out that I was too late to ask for mercy from The Darkness, so it decided to end me with the rest of the world."

"Gale, bud, you can't go," Lance choked out, his voice hoarse with pain.

"You've gotta defeat The Darkness, Lance," Gale croaked, his voice barely audible. "Please, that's the last thing that I'm gonna ask from you, to defeat The Darkness and avenge our world and our home, our people…"

"Gale, just don't go," Lance pleaded.

"You're the best friend anyone could ever have…you never gave up on me, even when I gave myself up…thanks…" Gale's eyes then shut, and a last ragged breath escaped his body.

And then he was gone, the life slowly leaching out of him as his body became cold. His brown eyes would never open again, his breathing would never start once more.

After that was when Lance had been pulled by Aria into the pod that they used to go to Sonic's world, leaving Gale behind as their world crumbled away to nothingness.

With a sudden jolt, Lance was jerked back to the present, where he was still walking along the shoreline of the beach. All of that had seemed so fast when it had happened, but in his memory, it seemed to slow, always too slow, too late to do anything.

He closed his eyes and breathed in the warm, salty air, calming himself down. It was amazing what comfort nature was able to give you at times, he thought, as the warm sea breeze passed by him once more. It seemed to gently replace the horrible memories that were flooding him now with calm, making it seem that it would always be all right.

As he continued to walk along the beach, something caught his eye. A glitter, a warmth that seemed to beckon him towards a small spot, and his sharp eyes picked out the faint color of red. That wasn't exactly a color that you normally saw in the sand on the beach, so his instinct told him to check it out, and so he did, with his sword at the ready just in case.

When he reached the red, he instantly knew that this was a Sol Emerald, based on the description that Sonic and Blaze had given him. He hesitantly reached out to touch the gem, and he was instantly filled with a warmth so comforting that it was almost unrealistic and slightly crazy. It was comforting, and it seemed to be slightly alive under the touch of his hand.

He picked up the red Sol Emerald, and in his mind, he was one step closer to defeating The Darkness.

_Just you wait,_ he thought menacingly. _Once we get all the Sol Emeralds, you're going down, and I'll have avenged the death of my best friend whom you turned to your side, only to kill him._ Lance's anger was being unleashed in his thoughts; he knew that The Darkness probably wasn't listening to his thoughts and probably wasn't able to hear them, but it made him feel slightly better to release all the anger bottled up inside of him. _It's time that you got a taste of your own medicine._

And, with that, he started to make his way back to the workshop.

**FOLLOWING ARIA TO THE MEADOW…**

Towards the south was the meadow, with all of its lovely flowers and tall, green grasses and lush, blue skies, with white, fluffy clouds floating lazily across the never ending blue, as if they had all the time in the world. Aria personally loved the meadow, loved almost anything that was calming or beautiful or from nature in any way, shape, or form.

As she walked through, a gentle breeze stirred the tall grasses, gently plucking some blossoms off of the trees. A few small petals landed gently past her face as the breeze became directed towards her, and the flowers gently tickled her cheeks. It felt good, nice, comforting.

Aria knew that Lance was going through a tough time now. Gale had been his best friend, and he had allowed The Darkness to control him because his very reasons for existing were gone, killed by The Darkness, and he didn't want to risk anyone else's lives any more, thinking that they were dead because of him and his resistance towards The Darkness.

Her mind drifted back to when Amy had asked the question, how Lance had responded, and how Sonic and Blaze had made those very unnoticeable movements that seemed to be perfectly harmless. But why, right at when Lance had finished explaining, had they both chosen to do that at almost the same time? Could that be what was wrong with them? She remembered when she had asked Blaze what she thought was wrong with Sonic, how the lavender cat had tried to slightly evade the question, and how pain had flashed across her eyes in that single instant. It was like she was at war with herself, with something inside of her, just like the way that Sonic was acting now most of the time…

_Could The Darkness have gotten into their heads as well?_ Aria thought. _Has it made any threats to them? Why aren't they telling us what's wrong, if that's the condition that they're in._

_Because it'll make them seem like traitors, idiot,_ she thought to herself, having a conflict with her own thoughts.

_But why would they hide it? We could help them._

_No, some of us would probably jump to conclusions about them and instantly say that they joined The Darkness._

_Why try to protect us, though? We can handle it._

_Some of us can, but not all of us; some of us are still weak._

_Maybe they aren't telling us because The Darkness has already controlled them already and they are doing its bidding, listening to us and knowing our moves and such._

_Sonic and Blaze would never do that, I know; they would tell us first, because that's the type of people that they are. They would tell us to that we would be ready, and they would stay away from us, to try to protect us._

The fighting inside of herself, with her thoughts running into each other at high speed, was making her head hurt slightly. It was all too much to think about at one time, just too much.

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. That was when she noticed something glittering in the distance, something that was yellow and something that wasn't a flower.

_What is that?_

Her curiosity got the better of her as she moved closer to the object, seeming pulled towards it for some reason, like she was attracted to this strange item that she had no idea what it was. Now that she was closer, she could make out the yellow a bit better now, knowing that it was something solid and that she wasn't hallucinating.

The moment that she reached it and hesitantly touched it, she knew that it was a Sol Emerald. The gem was even more beautiful than she had originally imagined that it would be, and it felt warm and comforting under her fingertips. Quickly, she scooped it up in her hands, feeling slightly happy and calm, but also, her eyes darted around for any signs of danger, if someone was after these. Didn't the Eggmen, those people who had made that horrible robot, didn't they tell Sonic and Blaze to give them the Emeralds? Maybe this was a trap.

But there was nothing but the gentle chirping of birds, and, her fears assuaged, she went back to Tails' workshop, holding the Sol Emerald and speculating at its amazing warmth.

**FOLLOWING BLAZE TO THE MOUNTAINS…**

Personally, the mountains were Blaze's favorite, because the air up there was cool and crisp, and the fallen snow was so beautiful on the tops of the ice-crapped mountains, and it seemed that they went on forever, like they were actually able to touch the sky.

The cool air gave her relief from her flames; it always left her with a slight warmth that could be annoying at times. The cold, crisp air helped the heat slowly drain slightly away, until it felt completely perfect.

While she was alone, she was able to get lost in her thoughts, think about what Lance had said before.

So it was her choice if The Darkness had complete control over her? What measures would it take to convince her? She already had been through pain that The Darkness had given her, and she also had heard it try to compromise with her, saying that it would give her what she wanted if only she joined him.

But what if she continued to defy The Darkness, like Gale had? True, it was going after Sonic more than it was going after her, but still, what if it went to measures that it had went through to get to Gale? What if it threatened to kill those that she loved, what if it threatened to hurt her friends, to hurt those that she cared about more than she cared for herself?

Now, she was keeping her thoughts of Cream and Marine guarded, so that The Darkness wouldn't be able to pick them up intentionally. But it would be hard for her, since The Darkness seemed like it was able to pick through her mind, things that she didn't want it to know and such.

She hoped that it wouldn't threaten to kill her friends, because if it did, she wasn't sure what her choice would be. She wasn't sure if she was going to defy The Darkness or if she was going to give in. If she defied it, someone would die, but she would still be living, and the world would still be alive; but if she allowed it to control her, her friend would stay alive, but at what expense? Did The Darkness need some sort of vessel to travel into this dimension, like living creatures that were holding its essence? What if she gave in, but she condemned everyone else, the whole world, to be destroyed, to be turned into lifeless rocks floating out in endless space?

It was so much to think about. _Too_ much to think about right now.

Blaze slightly raised the temperature of her flames when it started to get slightly too cold for her taste, involuntarily shuddering against the chill. She continued to travel up and up the mountain, and it was slightly becoming steeper and steeper.

_It's got to be here somewhere,_ she thought to herself. _I sensed the power of a Sol Emerald on this specific mountain; unless some random camper has something that can match the power of a Sol Emerald, which is highly unlikely, the Sol Emerald is definitely here._

Slightly, the familiar power that she always felt when the Sol Emeralds were around was becoming greater, and she knew that she was getting closer to the Emerald or to the random camper with a flashlight which's batteries had the same power of a Sol Emerald. It probably wasn't the latter.

She continued to climb the snowy slopes as the sunlight glinted off of the pure white snow, which was soft, and her feet lightly made imprints in the snow and left a trail behind her. Eventually, though, the winds obscured her footprints, and once she left, it probably would look like she had never set foot on the mountain.

The biting chill of the air cut through her, and she raised the temperature slightly once more as she continued to go up.

Then, she saw something purple against the white of the snow.

_There!_ she thought as she went over to the glittering gem. The afternoon sunlight bounced off of the Sol Emerald as she held it in her hands, and it gave off its comforting warmth and familiar glow. The purple Sol Emerald filled her with its familiar power, its warmth, and she held it in her hands, glad that she was able to find it.

_So this is what the power of one of the Sol Emeralds feels like…_. The horrible voice of The Darkness itself sounded in her head. _It's even more powerful than in your mind, in you memories._

_Leave me the hell alone,_ she thought angrily.

_I never felt such power like this…maybe, just maybe, I won't need you after all…_. The Darkness seemed to be pondering the thought long and hard, as if she would object to anything. She stood stubbornly silent, not allowing herself to think back.

_I would really like some privacy in my own head, if you don't mind,_ she couldn't help snipping.

The horrible pain made her back arch in agony, and no sound came out of her mouth then; it hurt too much for a sound to be able to escape her throat, but her mouth opened in a silent scream.

_Don't talk back like that to me, my dear, when I can do this to you,_ The Darkness said, seeming to have enjoyed that, and the pain that had exploded in her skull suddenly increased in magnitude, which she hadn't thought was possible.

Then, it seemed to leave her alone for while, so she picked up the Emerald and started to run back to the others.

**FOLLOWING SONIC TO THE MOORLANDS…**

Finding a Sol Emerald out here on the moorlands was probably going to be easy and hard at the same time. Easy, because the plains were, well, flat, and it wouldn't be that hard to spot an Emerald. Hard, because the moorlands seemed to go on forever and ever and ever, and you could easily get lost because everything looked almost exactly the same.

Sonic ran extremely fast, his eyes darting around for the familiar sparkle of a Sol Emerald, but finding nothing. He was starting to get annoyed; this was taking much longer than he had originally expected it would take.

His slight irritation made him go even faster than he had been before, blazing probably going faster than one thousand miles an hour.

_You really are a speedy one; I didn't ever realize it before,_ The Darkness's voice suddenly said in Sonic's head.

_Oh, joy, just what I wanted. _Sonic couldn't help the sarcastic remark from appearing in his thoughts as The Darkness spoke to him.

Pain suddenly flashed behind his eyes, making him suddenly stop in his run, clutching his head in agony.

_You would be wise not to talk back like that to me,_ The Darkness threatened.

Sonic prevented himself from thinking another retort that would probably anger The Darkness a lot.

_As I had said earlier, before I was so rudely talked back to by the likes of you, you really are a speedy thing,_ The Darkness continued, its tone seeming slightly conversational. _As I said before, my offer still stands; you would be very valuable to me. Your annoyingly cocky attitude can probably work for my favor as well. A very valuable addition to my army, an antique in my collection; I haven't come across anyone with such amazing power like you for quite a while._

_Stop talking about me like I'm a toy or something, and I'm not joining any damn army._

More pain blinded him, and he fell to his knees, gasping.

_I would prefer you to the other one, Blaze the Cat,_ it continued as if nothing had happened, _but, both of you together would be very powerful, you two would be the crown jewels of my army, my militia. _

_Leave us alone, neither me nor Blaze is joining you, so you should just give up._

_Maybe you shouldn't be so sure about your decision,_ The Darkness said, with a threat hidden behind its tone.

_No, I'm positive,_ Sonic thought back.

The Darkness seemed to chuckle, which creeped the blue hedgehog out a lot. _I think that your mind will change after quite a lot of this._ The pain suddenly increased in magnitude, making what had happened before seem like only a little pinch, like pulling off a band-aid really quickly.

Sonic was on his knees, gasping, sweat dripping down from his forehead and he stared at the floor eyes wide. He didn't realize that he was clutching his arm so tightly in an effort not to scream until he didn't feel anything past his elbow but a tingly sensation.

He anticipated for more, bracing himself, but there was nothing else. He cautiously got up, and then he started to speed quickly away, remembering his mission and looking for a Sol Emerald. He closed his eyes, not worried that he was going to run into anything because there were no trees and he had something like a sixth sense with stuff like this, trying to feel the power of the Emerald. _Come on, come on,_ he thought to himself, wanting to get back as soon as he could, not exactly in his best mood after the last telekinetic encounter with The Darkness.

His mind zeroed in on a power source that he knew to be the Sol Emerald that he was looking for.

He ran towards the power, easily following it, and then he opened his eyes; it was better to run that way, so that he was completely positive that he was safe and that he wouldn't run over anything or anyone.

Sonic saw the flash of blue in the distance, and he started to run faster towards it, knowing that it was what he was looking for. When he got closer to the sparkling gem, he grabbed the Sol Emerald, feeling the familiar warmth as if gave off its comforting glow, gripping it tightly in his hand.

He was extremely cautious, after his last mental conversation with The Darkness. After a quick scan of the barren landscape, however, he son realized that he was alone and that there were none of the penumbrae in sight. Safe in the knowledge that there was nothing after him in that exact moment, he started to run back to Tails' workshop.

But, as Sonic was running back, The Darkness spoke one last time to him.

_I think that you will be very cooperative after some…unfortunate events happening. And I know that in the end, you, Sonic, you and Blaze will both join my army, but you will be the most powerful one, the shiniest coin in my very large collection._

**Ok that took a long time to write. Sorry it took so long to update but I was working really hard on this chapter, and I hope that you all like it. Thank you to all of the people who have reviewed my story, please continue to faithfully read, and tell me whatever you think. My next update probably won't be in a while because I'm so tired, so I'll probably take a break, but please review, and thank you for actually reading this! I hope that this is good for a first story, thank you for reading my story so much! ^^**


	10. Explanations

Chapter 10

_Screams suddenly erupted in fear all around, and the scene was chaotic: there were people running around in circles, from the shock and fear, trying to get away from the ugly beings; others jumped out of windows in desperate attempts to save themselves; some were just frozen, either with fear or suddenly seeing their hearts' deepest desires in front of them._

_In desperation, people were locking their doors, going to the refuge of their homes, trying to run away from the large, dark shadows that were following all of them relentlessly, barring the windows and locking their doors with every known type of lock. Children and babies cried, and frightened mothers tried to comfort their children while the fathers had to put on a brave face, saying that they would be all right, but, in truth, they were just as frightened. _

_The shadows were unstoppable. They oozed through the paper thin cracks that some hadn't been able to completely shut; they came through the tiniest space where air was allowed to come through, they even just dissolved right through the doors. There was no refuge from these beings, no safe place that they were able to go to, and more screams erupted from the frightened residents of the houses. The screams were piercing through the air, more and more frequently now, in pain and in sadness and grief. Loved ones were dying right in front of their own eyes, and when they reached them, they suddenly turned into an ugly dark thing that bit them and made them scream in pain, and then, when the things wouldn't latch off, they collapsed on the ground, dying from the loss of blood as the creatures slowly drained their life away, and they would soon stop struggling, and their eyes would glaze over, and they would be dead._

_It was pure chaos._

_And then, they all heard one voice speak this one thing._

"The Darkness is coming."

_Over and over it was repeated, in a harsh, grating voice, that if it was raised over a certain level that it would crack. The voice was what seemed to scare everyone the most, the way that it seemed to be coming all around you, like it was everywhere and nowhere at the same time._

_More screaming, and storms started to blow up in random places, making the people scatter in fear. Hurricanes and tornadoes of massive, unimaginable sizes; snowstorms and burning hail falling from the sky, some pieces as big as cars or as small and sharp and deadly as knives; earthquakes that made the earth shudder; volcanoes erupting, spewing out clouds of gray ash, making people suffocate…_

_Amidst all the smoke and storms and screams and chaos, there were three, a silver hedgehog, a sea-green cat, and a cherry fox, who were looking for their friend, amidst everything. They were desperately searching for him, and, finally, the silver hedgehog's blue eyes that seemed as undulating as the sea finally fixed on a familiar fleck of gray, and he ran towards it, with the two girls running behind him._

_The gray wolf that they had been searching for was lying on the ground, his usually warm brown eyes now shut in pain._

"_Gale," the silver hedgehog choked out, shocked._

"_Lance…I'll finally be with Amethyst and Kate again…" The gray wolf shut his eyes against the pain. "Turns out that I was too late to ask for mercy from The Darkness, so it decided to end me with the rest of the world."_

"_Gale, bud, you can't go." The silver hedgehog's voice was full of pain._

"_You've gotta defeat The Darkness, Lance. Please, that's the last thing that I'm gonna ask of you, to defeat The Darkness and avenge our world and our home, our people…"_

"_Gale, just don't go." It was a useless plea._

"_You're the best friend anyone could ever have…you never gave up on me, even when I gave myself up…thanks…" And the wolf's eyes shut and never would open again. He was gone._

_The silver hedgehog didn't have time to mourn for his fallen friend, because he and the two girls had to go. He was gently pulled by the sea-green cat over to the escape pod that they would use to travel to a different dimension, to seek the help of Sonic the Hedgehog and Blaze the Cat and Shadow the Hedgehog and Knuckles the Echidna. To warn them of The Darkness, so that the world that they resided in wouldn't come to the same fate that their own had come to._

_As they were transported to the other world, the chant continued, growing louder and louder as the world crumbled away into lifeless rocks that The Darkness was stripping away, to get to the core of the planet, to steal its energy, to make it more powerful._

_And the chant continued…_

"The Darkness is coming…The Darkness is coming…"

**BACK TO THE PRESENT…**

"Oh, my God, Lance," Amy whispered as Lance told her the story, the story of his best friend, Gale, and how he had fallen victim to The Darkness, how the two that he loved, the two girls that were the most precious to him, had been stripped away by The Darkness, how he had given himself up, and how The Darkness had destroyed their world.

"I'm so sorry," the pink hedgehog murmured, her green eyes full of compassion and sorrow for him.

Lance brought his pained blue eyes up to meet hers. "That's the story," he mumbled, almost numb with the pain of the memories. "And that's what will happen to your world if we don't stop The Darkness from taking over the world. Life as you know it will cease to exist, because The Darkness wants the power of the core of the planet, which, in itself, allows the planet to sustain life. It stole the power of our planet, Amy, our first home, and I promise that I will do everything in my power to protect my second home."

"But, Lance, what if…what if The Darkness isn't defeated? Then what?" she asked worriedly. "Will it truly destroy our home? Will our world just fade away as if it never existed?"

The fear that was in her eyes made Lance suddenly feel hate in his system, hate at The Darkness for making others so scared.

"Amy, I promise you," Lance started, keeping his anger inside of him, as he brought her chin up to face him, "I won't allow The Darkness to hurt anyone else that I care about, and I definitely promise to keep you safe at all costs." He saw the tears, the fear in her green eyes, so he pulled her into a hug, and she held him tightly in response. That was the moment that he caught her smell, and it was amazing, like flowers and springtime and everything good…it was so amazing that he wasn't sure if he was going to pass out from the sheer amazingness of the aroma.

"Amy, I promise, I won't let The Darkness harm you," Lance whispered.

"I know that you'll protect me," she replied, snuggling into his shoulder a bit more. It was in that instant, when she turned back to face him, that she realized something that had been nagging at her for quite a long time. Two or three months had passed, give or take, and the three who had come from a different dimension had made great friends here. And in that moment that she looked into his eyes, the eyes that were deep blue but also had lighter flecks of sky blue in them, like the wavy surface of the sea, that she admitted the truth to herself.

But she needed him to say it.

"Lance," she paused, thinking about how she was going to do this, so that what he said would be real. "Why…why are you going to protect _me_ from all harm? Why am I so special to you?"

He looked down at her, realizing the truth as well. He didn't know how to put it, without it sounding really corny. "Because…Amy, from the first moment that I saw you I…I've been mesmerized by you." It _did_ sound corny.

At that, Amy slightly blushed. "Why else?" she persisted gently.

He held her cheek with his hand. "Amy, the reason is because I…I…" He winced, realizing how corny this was going to sound, but when he looked into her eyes again, he suddenly didn't feel afraid to admit it any more. "I love you. Ever since I first saw you, all that time that we've spent together, has only made my love for you grow more and more."

Amy didn't really know what she was doing when she suddenly kissed him as soon as the words were out of Lance's mouth, but it was just so perfect that neither she nor Lance objected. Lance held her in his arms and made the kiss deeper, tilting her head up towards his.

There was silence behind their door for a very long time after that.

"So, the Sol Emeralds are just like the Chaos Emeralds, except for the fact that they are differently shaped?" Rose asked Tails, as she, the twin-tiled fox, Sonic, Aria, and Blaze all stood around the place that the Sol Emeralds were kept, in a safe distance from the Chaos Emeralds.

"Yeah, they both have the same amount of energy and everything," Tails replied.

"If they both come together, a calamity could occur, right?" Aria asked.

Sonic nodded. "The Eggmen tried to get the power of both sets of Emeralds for themselves, to try and create ultimate destruction, and Blaze and I barely escaped those tight situations alive."

"But if the Emeralds are used for good, like when Sonic and Blaze use them, then only good can come out of it," Tails explained. "You see, Sonic and Blaze are very special, because Sonic is able to harness the power of the Chaos Emeralds and transform into Super Sonic, his ultimate form, and Blaze is able to harness the power of the Sol Emeralds and transform into Burning Blaze, her own ultimate form."

"No one else can do that?" Rose asked.

"Well, Shadow can turn into Super Shadow, and Knuckles can use the power, as well," Blaze added, "but, besides us four, I believe that's all."

"You're the only girl who can harness the power of any set of Emeralds?" said Aria, seeming amazed.

"Well…I guess I am," the lilac cat answered. She had never exactly thought of that, it had never exactly hit her that way before.

"Knuckles and Shadow and I use the Chaos Emeralds for power, but she's the only one who can use the Sol Emeralds," Sonic added, flashing Blaze one of his trademark grins. "It's cool."

She smiled back at him, but then she rethought the words that he had just spoken, and she realized that no, she wasn't the only one who could use the power of the Sol Emeralds. There was another, one that she would rather not exactly think about right now, but, in truth, he could harness the power of the Sol Emeralds as well. Blaze had never told anyone, not even Sonic, about him, because she hoped that no one would ever have to meet him. So, technically, there were five who could harness the power of the Emeralds.

"But, while they're not being used, we have to be really careful with the Emeralds," Tails explained. "One mistake, like, if we accidentally bring an Emerald of each set too close to each other too quickly, something bad can happen. But if something happens to all seven of them, then Chaos Control can happen, or a huge explosion or something, and we don't want that."

"The Eggmen'll probably be trying to steal them as well," Sonic added. "We should always be on guard, because they can attack at any time, and we still have the problem of The Darkness to deal with."

_Bring me the Chaos Emeralds._

The voice suddenly appeared in his head, bringing with it a horrible wave of pain that made his head feel like it was about to explode.

_You know, I really hate it when you do that,_ Sonic seethed in his mind as he struggled to control his face.

Blaze's eyes flicked towards him, and she saw the pain flash across his eyes, the way that he seemed to slightly stumble a bit, closing his eyes, and she knew that The Darkness was torturing him. She stood silent, not drawing attention to what he was doing. She knew that it would pass, that, eventually, The Darkness would stop tormenting him; she just hoped that it would be soon, because she hated seeing him in pain, pain that he wasn't allowed to show.

_Don't talk back._ The pain stung like a whip, and The Darkness' voice was like acid itself. _Bring me all seven of the Chaos Emeralds in a week's time, or else I will hurt those dear to you._

_Yeah, you go do that. I'm never giving you the Chaos Emeralds. You were pretty stupid, and you don't know me that well if you actually thought that I would give in to your crap._

_Don't worry; I think that you soon will._ The Darkness then vanished from his head as soon as it had come, and Sonic was able to breathe evenly now as he visibly relaxed, allowing his originally tensed shoulders to slump in relief.

Just as the attack from The Darkness had stopped, Shadow suddenly burst in through the doors, causing a sudden gust of wind to enter the room that they were standing in. His eyes were wide with what they all presumed to be shock.

"There were no Sol Emeralds anywhere…" Shadow trailed off as he saw the Sol Emeralds giving off a faint glow. "You got them all, I presume?"

All of them but Sonic nodded in unison; the blue hedgehog was still recuperating from the attack from The Darkness.

"The only thing that we can do now is wait," Rose murmured quietly.

Shadow hated feeling helpless like this, so helpless and weak. He had felt like this when Maria had died before his eyes, when the G.U.N. had helplessly murdered the young girl who was like a sister to Shadow, the closest thing that he ever had to family. And now, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance, it was even worse now; Blaze, who had become like his sister as well, may get harmed, and Aria…

He forced himself not to think of that possibility. It hurt too much to imagine any harm coming to her. And after that attack from the penumbrae, when she had fallen down on the ground in some unspeakable pain, he had felt rage course through him, rage and vengeance, the need to kill. He remembered the pain that he had felt as he saw her in pain, her breathing labored, her eyes squeezed shut as she struggled not to let the tears get through…but a few tears escaped and trickled in thin lines down her cheeks, dampening her fur slightly, showing how much pain she was enduring…

It was too much to bear now.

"I have a feeling that The Darkness won't give up that easily; it'll probably come up with something along the way, like another attack from its monsters," said Aria gravely, fear in her voice.

"Then we'll just have to be ready for it," Sonic said, contributing to the conversation once more, so that the others would believe that he was perfectly fine. Blaze shot him a quick, almost unnoticeable glance, but he understood, and his glance in reply showed her the answer: later, he would tell her what happened. Concern had flashed across her eyes for a second before she turned back to the conversation that was taking place.

It seemed that the talk had ended, though, because Tails turned to check on the stability of the Chaos and Sol Emeralds, to make sure that no explosive results would happen, and Rose watched eagerly. Shadow decided that he wouldn't leave right away, because he had come all the way here, he might as well stay. And Blaze urgently wanted to know what had happened between Sonic and The Darkness; she was extremely concerned about him.

A few minutes later, Amy and Lance had finally exited the room that they had been in originally, holding hands, fingers liked together, intertwined, as if they had no intention of letting go.

"Where were you guys?" Rose asked, turning her head.

"Just talking," Lance said, giving a half-truth, as Amy flashed him one of her amazingly beautiful heart-stopping grins. As she looked at him, her eyes shone with a new emotion that none of the others could name, but that she and Lance knew was love.

Rose shrugged and continued to watch Tails, asking him certain questions about the Emeralds as he answered, half-listening. She found this kind of cute as she smiled to herself.

"Sonic," Blaze said quietly, urgently in his ear. "What happened?"

"When we're alone," was all he replied, and she nodded. The Darkness hadn't spoken to her yet, surprisingly, and she was beginning to believe that it actually _did_ want Sonic so badly that it would torture him into it.

Just then, that horrible, sinking feeling that something was wrong, that sixth sense, hit all of those who had been in fights. Sonic tensed, Blaze's eyes widened as flames automatically started to travel down to her palm, Shadow let out a low, almost unnoticeable growl as his muscles tightened, Aria's ears flicked ever so gently as she whipped around, and Lance went rigid as he held Amy around her shoulders, tightly holding her, trying to shield her from whatever harm was coming. Rose sensed the unease in the air, and Tails realized that it was too quiet, and they both slowly turned around, more confused than having the dread that everyone else was feeling. Amy's eyes just widened in fear, confused and scared as she held onto the hand that Lance wrapped around her shoulder.

It was so quick that none of them realized how they got in there, but they did. Shadows oozed through the walls, through the door, seeming to materialize out of thin air, coming off the walls. The clouds of darkness started to collect, gaining mass, thickness, as all eight of them watched in wide-eyed horror as the shadowy beings continued to form relentlessly.

They were bigger than the penumbrae, still gaining mass, but there was definite separation between some of them now. There were about a dozen…no, two dozen…they continued to multiply, getting bigger and bigger, shapeless blobs that seemed to have no definite shape, like the penumbrae, but different somehow…like they had more power, that it was noticeable. It was nerve-wracking as they continued to form, and suddenly it stopped, showing that they were finished. They towered near the ceiling, but they had the illusion that they were wispy and thin but also like they were somehow thick, like fog, flickering like flames in darkness.

Pure terror was the only word that could describe what these creatures meant to give off.

"The umbrae," Aria whispered.

Shadow's ruby red eyes flashed to her. "These are the umbrae? The Darkness' more powerful henchmen?" he asked, his voice automatically low.

She nodded, eyes wide with fear.

The shadow beings—the umbrae—let their white eyes which had suddenly formed gaze over all of them, finally resting on Sonic and Blaze. They seemed to realize that they were the ones that the penumbrae had gotten before, because their horrible, pure white gazes stood level with them.

"The Darkness is coming…" they all said in unison. There were no mouths for the words to come from, and the voice seemed to be just a harsh, rasping breath that threatened to break if they tried to make the volume higher.

On instinct, Lance quickly shielded Amy's body with his own, pulling out his sword and holding it in his right hand as his left arm was in front of Amy protectively as he glared at the umbrae. Tails and Rose were both shocked, both backing up to the wall in their horror and fear. Shadow instinctively stepped closer to the shadow creatures, bringing out his hand, so that he was in front of Aria and that his hand was slightly shielding her; she tensed, getting into a small fighting stance a she glared from over his arm. Sonic had already started to gently bring himself in front of Blaze; once again, he wasn't taking any chances, after that last fight with the Eggmen, where they had gotten her, when she screamed. Just like when the penumbrae sank the white fangs that suddenly had appeared into her flesh, that same horrible scream of pain…

Fueled with this race, he glared at these things.

"Get the hell out of here if you know what's good for you," Shadow growled menacingly, glaring at them with his red eyes which were now suddenly fierce. His fist tightened.

"The Darkness is coming…The Darkness will prevail…and the world as you know it will end," the umbrae said in one voice.

"In its dreams," Lance seethed.

"It already destroyed your home…and it shall gain much more power from this world…" the horrible voice said.

"We aren't letting The Darkness touch our home," Sonic said icily.

"Don't get us angry," Blaze warned, acid in her voice as her flames appeared on her fist once more.

"The Darkness will prevail…and there is no stopping it."

"Not if we have anything to say about it," Aria nearly snarled.

"So fickle…you living creatures…it's so amusing…but, in the end, The Darkness shall rule."

And, with that, before any of them were able to react to the words that the shadows had spoken, they quickly lunged for all eight of them, moving so quickly that they were unseen, just wisps of smoke, shadows, as they advanced towards them, relentless, and having only the idea of bringing two survivors back to The Darkness; the rest of them, they had no intention of keeping them alive.

**Sorry it took so long to update, but I kind of had a bad case of writer's block very recently. And I probably will have more time to update next week because I won't have school because of winter vacation. But I may have a serious case of writer's block. Anyways, though, I hope that this doesn't disappoint, and I decided that it was finally time to get Lance and Amy's romance much more obvious. And I can usually write way better, and I'll just tell you that future couples will probably be way better in progressing, but I thought that it was high time for their very obvious romance to finally come to the light. Anyway, keep reading! And all you faithful readers, thank you so much, please continue to review my story! And I think that I'm going to write another story, so please read that as well!**


	11. Harder to Defeat

Chapter 11

Outside, it seemed like a perfectly normal day, and a very good perfectly normal day, at that. The sky was a bright blue, showing no hint of an oncoming storm or of any other surprises during the day, as the fluffy, white clouds floated lazily along, like white cotton candy in a sea of melted blue ice cream. The sun was a bright yellow circle in the sky, more towards the right side, not exactly at the peak, stating that it was about one or two in the afternoon. Children were playing in the parks because it was a perfect day to be outside, and their parents watched them with warm gazes on their faces. Others were just doing their daily routine, going shopping or organizing the house, taking time to enjoy the lovely day.

Inside a certain workshop, however, the story was very, very different, as eight pairs of eyes stared in horror at what was aiming for them. They all were barely able to scramble quickly out of the way before the shadow beings—the umbrae—hit them. When the umbrae missed, they disappeared once more, staring to regain form in the room again.

"Get outside! We'll have more ground!" Sonic called. Lance quickly ran, with Amy clutching his hand like it was a lifeline, towards the door, and Shadow and Aria followed in the same fashion. Blaze ran out quickly along with them, leaving a small trail of flames behind her, as Sonic ushered Tails and Rose out quickly; both the foxes were nearly frozen with fear and terror, so it was hard to get them moving. The shadow creatures were gaining mass once more, and, just as Sonic dashed out of the workshop, they had finished forming.

The umbrae followed relentlessly, gliding through the walls of the workshop as they appeared in front of Sonic and the others.

"The Darkness will prevail," they said once again in that strange voice.

"Is that all that you idiots are able to say?" Shadow asked, irritated at them as the sarcasm dripped in his voice. "I wonder if you can get the idea that we understood you the first million times you said that through your thick skulls!"

Many of the shadows turned their white eyes, devoid of irises, on the ebony hedgehog.

"You should watch your mouth, you inferior living creature," they rasped.

_That_ type of talking made Shadow extremely pissed off, and he felt a low growl start to build up threateningly in his throat as he glared at them. Aria, who was still holding onto his arm, felt him tense.

"Watch it," Shadow snarled. It was a warning, a threat.

The umbrae seemed to pay no attention to him at all, and that only infuriated Shadow even more than he already was. And it was never a good idea to get Shadow angry at this point, but, obviously, the umbrae didn't know that. He was quivering with rage, wanting to do nothing but destroy all those things with something that they'd never forget.

"Sonic…Blaze…" the umbrae hissed.

"What?" Sonic growled back, already taking a halfway protective stance in front of the lavender cat after he heard her name as well.

"The Darkness will prevail. Make the right decision."

Of course, no one else knew what the heck the umbrae were talking about, but Sonic and Blaze knew too well what the shadow creatures meant. Blaze glared at them as Sonic shot them a look of pure venom.

"We already did. We aren't joining any damn army or any other crap like that," Sonic growled venomously. Blaze knew that it was unlike his normal nature to use more than one not-so-good word in a sentence, and she knew that he was infuriated as well, like Shadow.

"Ignorant fools," the umbrae said. "If you will not see reason, then…you _die with them_!"

They lunged once more as all eight of them scattered again, trying to find places to hide on the terrain. The forest provided enough cover for them as they hid behind trees and rocks, anywhere that the shadows might not fight them.

"Why are we hiding again? Why aren't we kicking their asses right now?" Shadow snarled.

Aria gently placed her hand on his arm, and just her touch made Shadow slightly calmer. She began to sing a soft, quiet lullaby, and the feeling of calming spread through him as his anger slowly drained away, very slowly, but surely.

"The umbrae are very powerful," Aria warned him. "We told you that they were. Like the penumbrae, they can create illusions. They can show you your deepest and darkest fears or what you desire most in the whole entire world if it is a physical thing. They can also shoot fear out towards you, so you have no idea why you feel nervous; it's like ice is traveling through your system, like you can't do anything but flee right at that moment."

"They are even more indestructible then the penumbrae as well," Lance added. "And the umbrae are closer to The Darkness than the penumbrae, and usually they are sent by The Darkness to kill someone."

"So who do they want to kill?" Tails asked, his voice scared.

Seeing his best friend so nervous and frightened caused anger to pulse through Sonic once more. These things were scaring the living daylights out of Tails and Rose, and they also caused the rest of them fear, too.

"And why did the umbrae signal out Sonic and Blaze?" Amy whispered.

Sonic exchanged a glance with Blaze, unsure if they should tell them or not. Yes, they were in immediate danger, but was that related to The Darkness in their minds as it tried to gain control of them? And what if they told them, what then? What if they only put their friends into even more danger then they all were already in, what if it didn't help at all to confess, and what if The Darkness somehow took advantage of the fact that the others knew? It now seemed that The Darkness somehow always knew how to turn any events in its favor, such as when they had been searching for the Sol Emeralds—it had automatically assessed the situation and had decided that it wanted the power. And also, what if, when they were told that The Darkness had entered the minds of both Sonic and Blaze, would the others jump to conclusions? Would they instantly believe that they might turn themselves over to The Darkness, that they would betray them all and help The Darkness destroy the world?

Before Amy's question could get answered, however, there was a horrible screeching noise as they all were suddenly struck with fear. It was frightening, feeling something icy cold creeping into your system and feeling the sudden urge to flee. It was an outcome of the umbrae's powers, and they were trying to draw them out to get a clear shot at them all.

That was when the gunfire was heard as well.

And that was when dozens and dozens of _robots_ cut through the bushes that they were trying to hide behind and fix their red eyes on them. One quick glance at the plates on their chests showed that they were made my Eggman; it had his logo (which was a very idiotic logo mark at that) and it said, in red letters, E-58. All of them said the same thing.

The robots shot at them, and the eight who were trying to run heard something—like water sloshing, only not quite, more like tar or a thick, sickly gooey substance—and they knew that the umbrae were following behind them.

They didn't destroy the robots. In fact, they _helped _the robots, sort of dissolving into them and giving them more speed or strength to pursue them as they tried to escape from the forest, which suddenly didn't seem like a good place to hide anymore. The trees and rocks now were limiting factors in their sudden flight, and they dodged them quickly, because they knew that if they ran into a tree that precious seconds would be lot—precious second that the umbrae could suddenly descend upon you and rip your throat out with the sharp, pure white, gleaming teeth, which dripped with poison.

Tails quickly grabbed Rose around the waist as he began to fly, blocked by the branches but going faster than he originally had been before. Shadow picked up Aria in his arms, holding her as her knees draped over one of his arms and she laid her head against his chest as he ran forward with blinding speed. Sonic quickly grabbed Lance's hand as the silver hedgehog reluctantly disconnected from Amy and began to dash forward. Blaze grabbed Amy's hand, dashing forward as well as she dragged the startled pink hedgehog behind her.

They were finally out in the clearing once again, but the robots and umbrae were still pursuing them, showing no signs of letting up.

"Why are the umbrae helping the robots?" Tails called down as he took a peek behind his shoulder to see yet another shadow creature dissolve into a robot, giving it enough strength to throw something sharp—an axe—at the flying two-tailed fox, who dodged it, just escaping with his skin.

"There can't be any logical explanation"—gasp—"except that the robots' master somehow formed an allegiance with The Darkness." Lance gasped once more as Sonic put on another burst of speed. He wasn't used to traveling like this at all; it made him slightly dizzy and afraid that he was going to get motion sickness from traveling too fast.

"What? You can't mean…" Amy trailed off in horror as she squeezed Blaze's hand, asking her an unspoken question.

"The Eggmen!" Sonic exclaimed as he quickly looked at Lance, then at their pursuers, who were getting ever so much closer to them, and put on another burst of speed. "They must've formed a treaty with The Darkness!"

"Otherwise, the robots would be falling down on the ground because The Darkness destroys anything and everything in its path," Aria said, her voice cracking with fear as she clung tighter to Shadow's chest, wrapping her arms even more strongly around his neck. In answer, he held her closer, and she could feel the growl building up in his throat.

"Those…those…those…!" Shadow stopped himself from saying a foul word, remembering that Tails and Rose, younger ears, would hear him. So, instead, he let out a growl as he allowed his anger to bubble to the surface. "I can't believe that they would actually _help_ the thing that wants to destroy the world! What good could they get out of it? Ugh, those _traitors_!"

Even though the Eggmen were never really considered allies in the first place, usually, they could be counted on to help when the world was in immediate danger and when it was about to be destroyed. They would then, after the world was safe, continue to try and make it Eggmanland, their ideal paradise. But this time, they were _helping_ The Darkness, which was going to end the world and all life as they knew it.

"Maybe they don't know that The Darkness will destroy the world," Blaze said quietly as everyone turned to her to listen attentively. "Maybe, just maybe, The Darkness offered them something, something that would be useful to them, like promised elimination of their enemies or an even more powerful set of robots for their use. The one thing that they don't know is that they will also end up being destroyed with the rest of us if The Darkness succeeds."

"DUCK!" Sonic suddenly shouted, and everyone listened just as something sharp, metal, and lethal soared right above their heads when they ducked; if they hadn't moved, all of them (but Tails and Rose) would've lost their heads to the axe.

"We have to fight these things, they're relentless!" Tails exclaimed as he grabbed Rose even tighter and ducked from an oncoming attack of gunfire. "They won't stop!"

Everyone knew that Tails was right, and they stopped and got ready to face the things, taking battle stances. Shadow placed Aria gently on the ground, and he was already taking a protective stance partially in front of her as Aria tensed and got ready to fight. Lance let go of Sonic's hand and deliberately stood in front of Amy as she peeked out, nervous, from behind his arm as he pulled out his sword. Sonic went over to Blaze, already slightly shielding her body with his own as he took a battle stance, and Blaze called on her flames and made the fire travel to her hands.

"Rose, you stay up there with Tails, you'll be safer!" Aria called up to them. "And you could help fight from up there, too, like, stall them or something without the threat of getting hurt!"

"Good idea!" Rose called back.

"Don't worry, Rose, I'll make sure that nothing harms you," Tails reassured her.

"I never doubted that," Rose smiled at the orange fox.

That caused him to blush slightly as he continued to fly out of harms' way.

The robots and the shadows suddenly stopped in front of the line that the six that were no the ground had formed. The robots who had the umbrae inside of them gave a shudder as they came out, making the horrible sloshing sounds as they formed into the shapes—whatever they were—once more. They looked at them all with their white eyes, but they specifically locked their gazes on Sonic and Blaze.

"You have one more chance; The Darkness feels very merciful today," the umbrae said. "Will you join us? Or will you die with the rest of your pathetic little _friends_?"

Their answers were both glares, saying all the foul words that they knew weren't good to say out loud.

"What an unwise decision," the umbrae said as they dissolved into the white robots once more. The robots all gave small jerks as the umbrae came into them once again, and then they stood up straight and charged at them.

Lance was closest as he struck the robots with his sword as it glinted in the warm, afternoon light. He sliced the first line of robots—three or four of them—very easily in half, and they fell to the ground, with small sparks, like lightning, emanating from them and showing that they were successfully dismantled. Seeing this, the others who had experience with fighting with the Eggmen knew that they weren't looking for speed or strength in these robots, but to overwhelm them with numbers and size; they usually seemed to have limitless supplies of robots like these.

Two shadow creatures made noises like screams and flew away, dissolving in the sunlight.

After that, everyone else attacked together: Lance continued to slice up as many robots as he could into non-functioning pieces; Amy, behind him, pulled out her Piko-Piko hammer and began smashing the robots into the ground, crushing them instantly; Aria was singing a melody that was effective, because, in a very strange way, the umbrae were more vulnerable to her gift than The Darkness itself, and, in those quick seconds that they were distracted by the loveliness of her voice and her song, she would kick the robots, their vessels, dismantling them; Shadow, his anger still fueled from before, was easily making robots blow up with the Chaos Lance and the Chaos Spear moves as the umbrae left the robots he destroyed; Blaze was throwing fireballs at the robots, and they were easily exploding, melting into useless piles of molten liquid as she punched and kicked as well; and Sonic curled into a spiny ball and ran into many robots at a time, and he punched and kicked to his heart's content.

It seemed that they were winning. The robots were decreasing rapidly in number, but there were still a lot, but the others weren't tired yet; and the umbrae seemed to be scattering when the robots failed.

They continued to fight until most of the robots were on the ground, not working any more. The rest of them seemed to turn to flee, and they disappeared into the forest for cover.

"You guys did great!" Tails called from above.

"I didn't even need to help!" Rose cried happily.

Amy instantly ran over to Lance as he held her in his arms. "Oh, Lance, are you all right!" Amy asked anxiously as she looked all over, checking for any signs of damage.

Lance gently touched her cheek. "I'm all right," he replied soothingly.

"That was easy," Sonic grinned as he saw the fleeting figures of the white robots.

"A little _too_ easy, don't you think?" Shadow muttered quietly, still suspicious, tense, and unsure.

Seeing Shadow's reaction made Sonic slightly unsure of his words.

"Shadow, I think that they're all gone," Aria said, trying to reassure the ebony hedgehog.

Sonic went over to Blaze. "Hey, are you all—"

What he was about to say was suddenly cut off as he clutched his head in agony. Blaze quickly wrapped her arms around his tense, shuddering shoulders as he took in gasps of air, trying to get away from the blinding pain that was hitting him. Her beautiful, lovely golden eyes were anxious for him, and as he looked into her amazing eyes, the first thought that crossed through his head was, _She's beautiful even when she's anxious and worried about me._

He then shook that away as The Darkness spoke in his head.

_You did not win this battle yet, Sonic,_ The Darkness hissed, sounding angrier than it had ever been in his head once more. _And, if you refuse me once again, I assure you that one of your friends won't make it through the rest of the battle alive._

The flash of pain that hit him made him stumble while he was standing, making him wince and his mouth open in a silent cry. Blaze was becoming more worried as she tried to hold him, while the others were gathering around, noticing Sonic's agony, as Blaze knelt down near Sonic, barely keeping him upright.

"What's happening, Blaze?" Aria asked as she saw the pain that Sonic was in. The blue hedgehog wasn't seeing anything right now but red and white and black pain. The only things that he was really completely conscious of was the feel of Blaze's arm around his shoulders, one holding him while the other touched his cheek in worry, trying to make him look at her, and her worried voice as she replied, "I don't know."

_Continue to resist me, hedgehog, and the one that you hold most dear will not make it through this battle._ The Darkness's voice was more harsh that it had ever been as it continued, _My patience is wearing thin; do not try it._

A sound was ripped out of his throat as The Darkness continued to torture him in his mind.

_GIVE ME AN ANSWER!_ The Darkness roared in fury. _Do you join me, or do you send the one that is the most dear to you to the grave!_

The pain was letting up, allowing Sonic to breathe once more. _I'll never join you, your threats will do nothing to me!_

Another sound of pure agony came out of Sonic. Hearing this, Blaze, who was more worried than before, if possible, was frantically trying to somehow make Sonic come back, as his cries of pain resonated in her ears, filling her with fury. But she had to stay calm, for his sake, she had to keep her flames contained or else she would hurt him.

_In that decision, hedgehog, you have just condemned one of your friends to death!_ And, with that, The Darkness suddenly left as quickly as it had come in his mind.

Beads of sweat were dropping off of Sonic, as he blinked a few times and shook his head, becoming aware of his surroundings once more, and saw Blaze's eyes staring anxiously into his own.

"Sonic, Sonic, do you hear me?" she was repeating worriedly.

"Oh, crap," Sonic groaned as his hand gripped his head. When he said that, when he was able to form comprehensible words, the tension on the air slightly decreased when he showed that he was able to speak.

"What happened?" Blaze asked, asking a different question.

Sonic understood. "The battle isn't over," he said, looking up at everyone else. "There's something else coming, I'm sure of it. We have to be ready for whatever it is."

"How do you know?" Tails asked curiously; he and Rose had landed on the ground, worried about Sonic.

"I'll explain it later," Sonic replied, knowing that they couldn't keep this a secret any more. With Blaze's help, he was soon standing again, but still weak and drained from his last mental encounter with The Darkness.

"Look!" Aria nearly screamed as a sloshing sound could be heard, and then they all turned to see the new horror that she had seen.

They all gasped as well.

It was now a huge monster that was clearly definable. There was no name for the dark, shadowy, gooey being that was there in front of them, but huge legs were able to be made out, about a dozen legs, all writhing in the strange goo. The body was fat, long, and huge, nearly blocking out the sun that was high in the sky, which shows how tall it was. It easily blocked out the bright sunlight, and the pure white eyes were now pure red with rage; somewhere, there was a mouth that showed gleaming, sharp white fangs that looked like they could kill on impact.

"What the hell _is_ that thing…?" Shadow growled as he shielded Aria.

Even with the immediate danger in front of them, Blaze turned to Sonic, needing to ask something else. "What else did The Darkness tell you? There's something you're not telling me, Sonic."

"He said that he would kill one of my friends today," Sonic said, his voice barely audible. "And I'm not sure who it's going to be."

Blaze's eyes widened in horror.

Then the thing, the monstrous thing that was looming in the sky and blocking out the sunlight, suddenly let out a horrible noise, a noise so terrible that it couldn't be described—like a million nails screeching against a chalkboard as thousands of sirens sounded, while feedback resonated all around the room at the exact same time.

The monster charged at them.

They were frozen, riveted with horror at the repulsive being, and then they tried to fight it off. Rose called on thorns to trap the thing's legs, but it easily tore out of them as easily as if it was simply tearing itself from a baby's gentle grasp. Tails quickly grabbed the other fox and flew up into the air again, because she had stood there, her eyes wide as she froze and as the monster charged at her.

"The umbrae must've merged to form some kind of…demon!" Lance exclaimed as Amy clung to him in fear. Aria realized that it would be completely useless to try to sing; this thing was beyond controlling. Lance tried to strike the thing with his free arm, but all the damage that the sword did was that it sloshed through the horrible black body of the thing; it took the slice as if it had just been touched by a snowflake, with no effect at all.

"Holy crap," Lance barely managed to say before he ran out of the way of something shooting out of him—a river, a steady stream of that same black goo that the thing was made up of.

"Chaos Lance!" Shadow shouted as he struck the thing with energy.

No effect. It just brushed it off like an annoying gnat.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow tried again, taking more time to charge up his attack this time.

Nothing.

Shadow shouted a foul curse word—which wasn't unusual for him, given how angry he was now—as he barely managed to dodge out of the way of another steady jet of the black goo. It scraped against the back of his shoulder blade, and the pain that followed was blinding and instantaneous, like red-hot flames suddenly spurting on that spot as poison struck as well, like his skin was getting burned away and being filled with stinging acid. He fell to the ground, barely managing the control over his voice, struggling not to cry out in pain.

"_Shadow!"_ Aria exclaimed as she ran over to his fallen body. She saw a mark on his shoulder, something that hadn't been there before, like a strange, greenish blotch mark somehow on his skin that was puffy and seemed to be infected already. Blood was pouring out of the wound so rapidly that if the poison from the monster that the umbrae had formed didn't kill him first, then he would bleed to death.

He opened his eyes quickly, his amazing ruby red eyes—so warm, so gentle when they always laid sight on her—suddenly crazed and full of pain as he took in sharp gasps of breath. His panic and fear, two characteristics that were never associated with Shadow, made the blood flow out of his wound even more quickly than before, and he choked on blood as it came out of his mouth, like a river of red liquid. It hurt Aria to see him like this, so vulnerable as he continued to cough up a fountain of blood, staining the perfect white fur on his chest.

She needed to calm him down, or else the poison would spread throughout his body, through his bloodstream, eventually killing him in the end. Even though Shadow was supposed to be indestructible—it was probably only from the outside—this poison could kill anything, she knew from personal experience. The umbrae was what had killed her mother, what had made her die, what had taken her away from Aria.

Aria softly sang a lovely song, the lullaby that was sung to her by her mother when she was little, to calm Shadow down. She gently traced her hand on his cheek as she continued to gently sing the melody that calmed even the most vicious anger. Shadow's breaths were becoming slightly more even now, and he was slowly loosening up his originally tense body, and the blood flow from the wound was letting up, and he wasn't coughing any more.

"Shh, shh," Aria soothed him softly, and Shadow was calmed by her voice, her perfect voice, like velvet, like silk, so beautiful…

The steady stream of blood that had been originally gushing from his shoulder was now slowed down, and she knew that he was under control. Lance came over from his hiding spot with Amy in the thick trees of the forest and picked up Shadow's body, being careful to be gentle with him as he brought him over to the hiding spot.

"Oh, my god, what _happened_ to Shadow?" Amy nearly shrieked, then remembered that they were hiding and lowered her voice to a harsh, worried whisper.

"The monster that the umbrae formed got him," Aria answered, her beautiful eyes gazing anxiously at Shadow's calm form; he had finally passed into the real of unconsciousness. "If the poison in his body spreads, then he…he won't make it."

"How do you get the poison out?" Amy asked.

"One of us has to do something," Lance replied, squeezing her hand.

While all of this was taking place, Sonic and Blaze stood in the battlefield, thinking about a way of destroying the creature. It had seemed to have taken no damage from Shadow's attacks, and his attacks were enough to blow up many robots with just one strike. What _was_ this thing?

Blaze allowed her flames to build up, and she extended her palms out towards the monster.

"Let's see if you're fireproof," she growled, and then she suddenly let out a stream of flames from both of her palms. It was so hot and so much fire that the air around it began to have and started to undulate and the temperature increased sharply. Blaze continued to let her anger at seeing Shadow hurt by this creature continue to fuel her flames, a never-ending onslaught of fire.

When she couldn't any more, when she used up all that she had, she backed away, gasping for breath, trying to replenish the flames inside of her. The black plumes of smoke that were rising steadily from the place where the thing had just been standing gave her a little bit of satisfaction.

But the smoke cleared, revealing that the thing wasn't harmed in the least. It fixed its pure red glare on her, seeming annoyed, but it was completely unscathed. It didn't even look like she made any attempt to harm that monster, it was like she had just simply stood there and done nothing but stare at it until her gaze turned into pure shock

Suddenly, a flash of blue rammed itself into the blobby monster at blinding speed, so fast that if you had blinked you would've missed it. While Blaze had been attacking the thing with fire, Sonic had been charging up for a spin attack as he ran into it at full force.

He seemed to get stuck in it, and then he bounced backwards, colliding with trees from the forest and making them tremble and fall from the force of the impact and speed that he had been thrown back. Sonic shook his head, dazed, and quickly got up again.

At that, Blaze breathed a sigh of relief, her attention diverted for the slightest of seconds.

That was all the monster needed to shoot out one of its legs and grab her, pinning her arms to her sides and trapping her in its strong grip.

The moment that the goo made contact was the moment that the pain also hit Blaze. She let out an uncontrollable scream of pain, like acid burning her body away as the thing squeezed her tighter, making her lungs fight for air. Panic was settling in as well, making it even harder for her to breathe, like her lungs had somehow been taken out of her body. More shrieks came out of her lungs, and, finally, she succumbed to the pain and her eyelids shut as she drifted away into unconsciousness.

"_Blaze!"_ Sonic yelled as he dashed over to her, when the monster dropped her, seeing that its work was done. Her screams resonated in his ears, like when they had fought the Eggmen, like when they had fought the penumbrae…except her screams were somehow more painful to hear than to remember the sound of them in his memories. He saw the faint rise and fall of her chest and knew that she was still alive, that she was still breathing, that her heart was still beating. But the terrified screams that had wracked her body, that had been magnified by the panic in her lovely amber eyes…

Sonic's body began to tremble with rage, his hand that was next to him on the ground closing into a tight fist, the other hand that was on Blaze's shoulder shaking with his anger. He felt the fury run through him, powering him, and her screams echo in his ears. No one, _no one_ was allowed to make Blaze sound like that, _no one_ was allowed to put her in such pain that the sound didn't seem to be able to come from a living, breathing thing, _no one_ was allowed to force the screams out of her as they squeezed the life out of her…

With a snarl—no, a roar—of rage, his anger exploded, and the transformation was complete.

Dark Sonic was free once more.

"Oh, no…" Amy murmured as she peeked out from their safe spot in the trees. She had seen the whole thing, seen the slow transformation from Sonic into Dark Sonic, his anger in a physical form, as his cobalt blue quills faded to midnight blue, as his emerald green irises just vanished, leaving nothing but pure white, and as the dark aura intensified around him.

"What's happening?" Lance asked, looking for something sharp in the forest.

"Lance, what're you doing?" Amy asked.

"Please, tell me what's happening first, Amy," Lance nearly pleaded.

Amy told him about what happened to Blaze, and how Dark Sonic had escaped once more. Lance's blue eyes turned anxious as he heard the story, and, as he looked as Dark Sonic for a quick second, he could literally feel Sonic's own anger.

"Lance, tell me what you're doing," Amy ordered when he went back into the forest for something—what that something was, she had no clue.

"The only way for us to save Shadow," Lance started to explain as he continued to search through the forest, "is for one of us to give him some of our blood. And it can't be just anybody placing their own blood on his wounds. It has to be someone that he's extremely close to, someone that he completely trusts with his heart and his life."

"But…why?"

Lance's eyes darted towards Aria, who wasn't taking part in the conversation. She was quietly murmuring the lullaby to Shadow, who had started to stir once more and had started to struggle. With the warm sound of her voice, however, he eventually calmed down once more, but didn't face into unconsciousness like he had done before.

"A…Aria?" Shadow groaned, opening his eyes weakly.

"Shhh, it's me," Aria replied soothingly.

"I…feel terrible," Shadow said, fighting to keep his voice under control. He had never felt this way, so helpless or so _in pain_ that he wasn't able to fight, that he had to fight to keep himself from crying.

"Don't worry, Shadow, I'll make it go away," Aria murmured to him as she stroked his cheek, trying to give him comfort.

"So, if the blood is given by an enemy or someone that Shadow doesn't like that much or doesn't care about, it won't make any difference?" Amy asked Lance after he explained to her.

"Correction: if it's done by an enemy or a person whom he dislikes, then it'll make it _worse_, and if it's done by someone that he doesn't know or he doesn't care about and who doesn't care about for him in return, then it'll do nothing. But, if it's given by someone that he cares about, and someone who cares about him in return, then the poison will retreat," Lance answered.

"Why does the poison retreat?"

"Because there is only one force that is too powerful for The Darkness' henchmen; I've finally got it. Remember the illusions that the penumbrae were giving us when we first ran into them?"

Amy nodded, giving an involuntary shudder.

"And remember when we held each others' hands? What happened when we touched?"

"The illusions just…vanished," Amy replied, "but I still don't see where you're going with this."

"The power of love…is more powerful than anything The Darkness' henchmen can do," Lance said gently as he caressed Amy's cheek. "Let it be love like our own, or love like a family, the way you love a brother or sister, but any type of love is enough to make The Darkness' henchmen's powers not work any more."

"So, it would have to be someone close to Shadow? Like…Aria?" asked Amy.

Lance nodded. "Aria knows what she needs to do," he said quietly as he continued his search for a sharp enough stone.

"Wow," Amy murmured.

"Ah-ha!" Lance suddenly exclaimed, then nearly cursed as he remembered that they were in hiding. "I found something!"

As all of this was taking place in the forest, Tails and Rose were watching the battle from above, high enough that Tails would be able to dodge any attacks from the monster. They saw Sonic transform once more.

"This is bad," Tails said, frightened.

"Tails, what're we gonna do?" Rose asked, panicking. "We have to help!"

"The only way that we can help is by staying out of the way; that thing is _way_ too powerful for us, and the only thing that we'd be doing was getting ourselves killed and making Sonic worry about us," Tails said, then suddenly realized how harsh his voice sounded. "I'm sorry Rose, I'm just worried about Sonic," he apologized.

"It's all right, I understand," Rose replied gently. They then turned to look at the battlefield once more.

Dark Sonic got up from kneeling down at Blaze's side, and was slowly walking towards the monstrous being that the umbrae had formed. Dark Sonic then suddenly curled himself into a ball, spinning and spinning faster and faster than he had before, and he launched himself like a bullet from a gun at the monster.

He succeeded in running through the thing, and there was a strange sloshy noise as Dark Sonic appeared on the other side of the monster. He looked at it contemptuously as he glared at it.

Then the monster let out a shriek, and suddenly mended the hole that he had made.

"That thing's indestructible!" Amy whispered from the bushes, turning to Lance, who was holding her shoulders tightly with his arm. She then caught a glimpse of Aria and Shadow.

Aria had her eyes closed, gritting her teeth, and then she took the sharp rock that Lance had found and slit her skin open, the skin on her shoulder to the inside of her elbow. She hissed a bit as her fingers made contact with the red blood that was now flowing freely out of the new wound, but she dabbed at it until her glove was red with her own blood. She then turned Shadow over gently so that she could get to the greenish puffiness on his back, where the monster had hit him. She then softly dabbed at that wound with her hand, the hand that was coated with her own blood.

Shadow let out an involuntary moan as her fingers touched his skin, and Aria knew that she needed more. She brought her hand back to her wound and continued to touch Shadow's sound until it was coated with her own blood.

Amy had to admit that it was a little nasty, but it was also a bit scary, wondering if it had actually worked to heal Shadow.

In the silent tension, suddenly, it was broken by a faint shimmer that appeared on Shadow's wound and the slit that Aria had made on herself. The faint, white shimmer seemed to bring Aria's skin back together, and the blood was going away; it was closing up, knitting together, healing itself in blinding pace. It turned into a long scab, and then the scab got small and peeled off of her arm, leaving it with no scar, as if she had done nothing in the first place.

Her gaze turned to Shadow, where the shimmer was gently coaxing his skin back together. It, too, was knitting itself, forming new skin, and finally leaving another large scab. The scab began to shrink as well, and soon, it was brown, and it seemed days old, and, finally it peeled off of Shadow's arm, and his black fur was just as it had been before, as if he had never gotten harmed. Shadow suddenly let out a breath that he didn't know he had been holding when the pain had receded from his body.

"Shadow? Shadow, are you all right?" Aria asked gently as she looked down at him.

Shadow shut his eyes, then opened them again. "Aria?" he asked, struggling to sit up. Aria helped him at once, and soon, he was able to kneel down without much difficulty.

"What happened? The pain was suddenly gone," Shadow said, more like talking to himself.

"Aria saved you," Amy said, feeling proud that Aria had been brave enough.

Shadow looked into Aria's lovely colored eyes. "You saved me?"

"It wasn't a big deal," Aria said modestly.

"Yes, it is," Shadow murmured softly. And, just the slightest bit grudgingly, he added, "Thank you."

Aria just smiled in reply.

"Oh, my god, look!" Amy almost screamed as she saw the battle continuing.

Dark Sonic had been thrown back from the monster after trying to run it through once more; it seemed to only get stronger each time that he had successfully hit the thing, like each attempt to hit it only made it stronger.

Dark Sonic glared at the thing once more, getting even more angry at it. His eyes, which, like the umbrae before, were white and devoid of irises, caught one quick glimpse of Blaze lying on the floor, helpless, and fueled his anger once more. He then remembered that this thing also hurt Shadow, made him be in so much pain that he had to fight to keep from screaming in pain, and that made Dark Sonic even angrier.

The dark blue aura around Sonic continued to intensify as his anger swelled, and darkness was coming from his palms, accumulating there, empowering him in his fury. Then, with a blood-curdling roar of rage, he shot out a beam of dark energy that completely consumed the monster.

The writhing mass of goo thrashed around and around, its legs sprawling in a helpless gesture as it struggled to fight back, but Dark Sonic only put more energy in his attack, letting out another snarl as the darkness intensified.

The creature screamed and screamed, but Dark Sonic didn't let up. The creature was soon disintegrating, screaming all the time, until the screams, the horrible shrieks, faded away into nothingness, just like the monster itself. The only thing left was a still continuing pillar of darkness from Dark Sonic's palms, making sure that the thing was dead.

When its cries forever ceased, Dark Sonic drew back his hand, stopping the darkness, his white eyes glaring at the empty space where the monstrosity had been only seconds before. With a flick of his hand, the darkness that had come back to his palm disappeared, and, as his fury was calmed down, Dark Sonic soon began to fade once more, the dark quills turning back to cobalt blue, and the emerald green irises reappeared.

"He did it!" Amy exclaimed happily as Lance let out a whoop of triumph, then picked her up with joy and swung her around and around in his strong arms.

"He did all right," Shadow admitted grudgingly. Aria rolled her eyes and laughed. Shadow realized that her laugh was just about as beautiful as any of her songs, like silvery bells in the morning. He then shook his head to clear himself of these thoughts.

"Yeah, you did it, Sonic!" Tails called happily from his hovering in the sky.

Sonic flashed Tails a quick thumbs up, and then he saw Blaze's body on the ground. She hadn't made any attempt to move at all during the whole battle, and the rising and falling of her chest was growing weaker and weaker.

"Blaze!" Sonic yelled worriedly as he dashed over to her fallen body, remembering The Darkness' words. No, no, The Darkness couldn't've meant that _Blaze_ wasn't going to make it through the battle; it was an impossibility.

"Blaze," Sonic barely croaked out as he turned her over, seeing her lovely eyes closed.

The others came, anxiously crowding around Blaze.

"Is she all right?" Aria asked, the worry straining her voice.

"Sonic, what happened to her?" Shadow demanded, his own voice thick with anxiousness as he looked at her fallen body. He hadn't seen most of the battle after the thing had hit him, he only saw the grand finale where Sonic had blown the thing up.

Sonic barely heard their voices, he just stroked Blaze's cheek gently as the words that The Darkness spoke echoed in his head.

…_do you send the one most dear to you to the grave!_

…_you have just condemned one of your friends to death!_

No, it _couldn't_ be Blaze. She couldn't leave him. She just couldn't.

She made no movements, and her breaths were growing weaker and weaker.

"Oh, no," Amy whispered as Lance held her closer, giving her comfort.

Tears started to well up in Aria's eyes. "No, no, no!" she cried out, as if it would stop this.

"Blaze…sister…" Shadow choked out, feeling grief that he had felt only once in his life before, when Maria had been killed, ruthlessly murdered by the people that he hated. Once again, he felt hatred, the lust for vengeance.

"No!" Tails cried out as Rose just stared in horror.

Sonic continued to gently trace Blaze's cheek with his fingers. "Please, Blaze," he whispered softly in her ear, hearing his own voice crack. "Please, you just can't leave me. Not like this. Please…"

He then squeezed his eyes shut tight, looking away from her too still body.

Silence gripped them all, silence and grief; Blaze had worked her way into all of their lives. How were they supposed to continue?

_This is my fault,_ Sonic thought guiltily. _If only I had given myself up…all my fault._

"Wait! She moved!" Tails suddenly exclaimed.

"What!" Sonic said, and everyone looked at Blaze again. Her eyes flickered, and her breaths became stronger now.

"She's all right!" Aria exclaimed.

Her eyes slowly fluttered open, and she let out a moan. "Ugh…" She then saw all the faces anxiously looking at her, but one face in particular she was able to focus on. "S…Sonic?" she croaked.

Sonic grinned at her, more relieved than he was able to say. "Yeah, it's me," he replied.

"Shadow!" Blaze suddenly gasped, worried about him.

"Right here," Shadow said comfortingly. "I was saved from the poison by Aria. I'm perfectly fine now."

"We need to get back," Tails said, but his own happiness was nearly inescapable, just like everyone else's. "We should check on the Emeralds; maybe the Eggmen had worked with The Darkness to steal both sets of Emeralds and make The Darkness even more powerful!"

"Good idea," Lance said, noticing that Sonic was too absorbed in being grateful that Blaze was back.

"Are you all right?" Sonic asked anxiously.

"I'm fine now," Blaze said, partially lying and partially telling the truth as well.

"Can you walk?"

"I'll try…" The instant that she tried to get up, she collapsed, too weak to do anything. Sonic easily fixed that predicament by scooping her up in his arms, holding her gently as she weakly held him around his neck.

"Let's go!" Rose said enthusiastically as Tails picked her up and began to fly again.

They all went back to the workshop, feeling relieved, knowing that they had won a battle against The Darkness.

_We beat him,_ Sonic thought triumphantly. _And all my friends are alive right now._

Suddenly, the harsh voice that would never leave him alone sounded, but with no pain this time. _You were simply lucky, you cursed hedgehog,_ The Darkness hissed in his mind. _I wouldn't be so cocky when you see what lies in store for you now._

**All right, sorry this took so long, but I had another severe case of writer's block on my hands. I can make three promises right now, though:**

**1) In the next chapter, there'll be more romance.**

**2) I will probably be able to post up another chapter this week.**

**3) …I only came up with two sorry ^^**

**Anyway, please continue to faithfully read my story, and I want to thank all of you who have faithfully reviewed. You all are pure awesomeness! ^^**


	12. Secrets and Confessions

_Sorry, people, I've been busy, busy, busy! Book report and another report and Social Studies project were all due real soon, and I can't exactly get on the computer because I'm working on that stuff. Sorry this is so late, I hope it was worth the waiting!_

Chapter 12

Time passed.

After that last attack from the umbrae, The Darkness seemed to have crawled back into its hole once more to plot any devious and sinister deeds that it was going to try to commit next. While the others were anxiously waiting for its arrival, they all knew that they could do nothing but wait. And, in the time that they were waiting for The Darkness to make its big move, they spent more time with each other.

Knuckles was visiting the workshop more frequently now, after he heard about the last attack from the umbrae. And, more and more often now, he was seen accompanied by Rouge. While he talked with Sonic and Shadow and sometimes Lance (when the silver hedgehog wasn't preoccupied with Amy), Rouge spent some quality girl time with Blaze and Aria and sometimes Amy (when the pink hedgehog wasn't preoccupied with Lance). While the older ones talked, Rose was content with watching Tails work, helping him out when he needed it, and occasionally making him blush from her praise; they often didn't get mixed up in what happened with between the older ones. Rouge would get juicy gossip about how Amy and Lance were doing from Amy herself, while Aria and Blaze talked about other things, not wanting to be gossips (and Aria had already got a lot of information from Lance already, and Blaze simply wasn't interested because she didn't want to get caught up in things). While they were talking, the males would also converse, with things usually not ending so well, because Knuckles had quite a quick temper and a large mouth and got angry over the littlest things that you say to him and was even more full of himself than Sonic (at least from Shadow's point of view) and Shadow also had quite a bad temper at that and was usually silent and would just glare at you with venomous eyes until you got creeped out and had to ask why, and then he would get so pissed at you that he wouldn't fly off the handle, he would just continue to glare, and that made it even more creepy, and eventually he would burst when you said the tiniest thing afterwards (at lest from Knuckles' point of view). Sonic would just roll his eyes, try to calm them down, and get their anger radiated onto him for interrupting their "very important argument" about something, while Lance just sighed and began to daydream about Amy. And sometimes, things would get so out of hand that the girls heard, and then they would storm into the room, with Blaze in the lead, fire threateningly spewing around her clenched fists as she told them to please shut up, so calmly that the boys knew that her own temper was probably going to boil over, and her look said that if they didn't listen to her and tone it down that whoever made the first move would have a permanent shoe-shaped burn on his butt.

Yep, life was good.

The arguments were cooling down some today, so that Blaze didn't have to stalk in there and threaten them with her flames. It was actually a relatively peaceful day out of all days, with the sun shining down from the sky, with Tails and Rose working quietly on yet another project, Shadow and Knuckles simply glaring at each other, and Rouge whispering excitedly with Amy. Another thing that made this day relatively peaceful and very relieving for a certain blue hedgehog was that The Darkness was not tormenting him as frequently as it had before.

The others knew about The Darkness, because they all remembered when the umbrae had signaled them out before. Sonic and Blaze had no choice but to confess to the others, but they took it with surprising acceptance, not judging them in the least. It was much easier now since the others knew, and they didn't have to keep their pain a secret any longer. It took off a lot of pressure, a lot of weight had been relieved from their shoulders and was transferred onto the others as they were burdened with this knowledge, but it was very easy to bear.

"Rose, can you pass me the wrench?" Tails asked as he continued working on his plane, adding more and more modifications to it; mostly more weapons so that he would be able to help out in the fight.

Rose instantly placed the tool that was necessary in Tails' hands. "Tails, why are you so good at building things?" she asked curiously, once again, trying to see if he was able to tell her.

The twin-tailed fox looked up from his work, looking at her with his sky-blue eyes. "I don't really know…I guess I just have a knack for these things," he replied modestly.

"Maybe it's your power; like how Sonic can go super-fast, Blaze has power over fire fire, Shadow can control Chaos, Knuckles is super-strong, Lance is an expert swords-master, Aria has the most beautiful voice, Amy has her Piko-Piko hammer, Rouge has her sneakiness, I can control plant life…maybe your special talent is that you're the smartest person who ever lived," Rose said with a smile.

That made Tails blush such a deep red that Knuckles would be envious of the color, and he returned to his work, knowing that he wouldn't be able to speak for probably another minute. His mouth had suddenly gone dry, and his lips had forgotten how to open and close to form words, and his throat had forgotten how to push air through to help make the words audible.

Rose saw this, thinking that he looked so cute when he did that, smiling to herself.

"Screwdriver, please," Tails said, barely managing over a whisper.

This made Rose's smile get slightly bigger, making her look more beautiful (at this thought Tails blushed even harder) as she grabbed the screwdriver and gave it to him.

Meanwhile, Rouge was excitedly whispering to Amy.

"Has Lance officially asked you out on a date yet?" the white bat asked.

"No, not yet," Amy said, slightly disappointed, but then she brightened. "But it's all right; we both know that we truly love each other, and that's all that's really needed."

"Dang, so romantic, maybe he'll ask you out on a date soon," Rouge smirked. Amy caught the look that was in her eye, and she quickly said, "Oh, please, Rouge, I am really all right with this, please don't say anything to anyone else, please."

"Relax, girl, I won't tell anyone," Rouge said innocently. Amy eyed her for a few more seconds before shrugging, changing the subject by making Aria and Blaze join the conversation by opening it up to everyone, saying, "What's the best way to show someone that you like them? Like, if you're the boy, and you want to show the girl you like her."

"They'll ask you out," Rouge said instantly with another smirk.

"Other than that," Amy said, brushing it off. She honestly wanted to hear what Aria and Blaze had to say on the subject.

"I think that if someone likes you," Aria started off softly after the silence got a bit too quiet, "that they would be anything for you, do anything for you, be there for you when you need them. They would be kind to you, and when you see each other, your lover's eyes would light up in a way that they never light up around anyone else…" She blushed lightly, but it quickly went away.

Rouge and Amy stared at the sea-green cat, thinking similar thoughts, while Blaze simply looked away. No one would ever feel that way for her, she knew, because of her curse; she had to live in her own solitude, had to deal with it, and no one was allowed to help her.

"Wow, Aria," Amy said softly. "That's so sweet!"

"What about you, kitten?" Rouge asked, directing the question towards Blaze.

Blaze blushed slightly as she remembered the question. "I-I really don't know," she said quietly, her voice a whisper.

"Oh, come on, no one's gonna say anything," Amy pressed, interested.

"Well…if someone really, truly loves you…they would always be there for you, not judging you by how beautiful or talented you are, but on what lies inside of your heart; they would go beyond the outer appearances and get to know you. You can tell your secrets to them, and you would trust them with your life. They will be someone that you can always depend on, and, no matter what, they will always see everything through for you. They…they wouldn't judge you for _what_ you are, if you are ugly or beautiful or loud or quiet…they'll care about _who_ you are, who the real person is inside of you. They can see through the illusion that everyone else sees…they see the _real_ you, the girl inside."

After her speech, Blaze found herself furiously blushing once more as she looked away.

"…Whoa, Blaze," Amy whispered. "That's really deep. So romantic…"

"So, who is it?" Rouge asked.

That made Blaze startled, asking Rouge what the hell she was talking about.

"Oh, come on, you can't know that much about perfect love unless you have someone special you're referring to," the bat stated matter-of-factly. "Come on, you can tell us."

"N-no, there's no one," Blaze stuttered, a bit baffled by that assumption that Rouge had drawn.

Rouge's glance showed the lilac cat that she didn't believe what she was saying, but, thankfully, Rouge didn't pry any longer. But she gave Blaze a shrug that spoke louder than words would ever say, intending, "Hey, if you don't want to tell me, that's cool, but I know that there's something you're keeping from me and I'll probably find out soon."

The stupid blush that was still making Blaze's cheeks flame flushed an even darker scarlet, and she quickly turned her head away so that no one else would continue to see it. The reason that she was blushing so much, she had no idea, because she did not love anyone because no one could love her back.

Or did she?

The idea of it was so atrocious that she quickly put it out of her mind. It was a simple fact, and she had to accept it: she would never truly love someone like that because no one would ever—_could_ ever—love her in return. But, why did she suddenly feel that somehow, in someway, that Rouge was right? That there was someone that she cared about deeply?

That thought made the blush darken even more, and Blaze cursed her reddened cheeks in her mind.

To divert her mind, she continued to listen to whatever else the girls were talking about, doing anything to distract herself from that embarrassing question.

The boys were talking as well, though not at all about things like the girls were. Knuckles and Shadow had gotten into a skirmish once again, and they were glaring at each other heatedly, their anger seeming almost visible, like waves coming off of their skin.

"Cool it, guys," Sonic ordered, his tone slightly annoyed as he stepped in between the red echidna and the ebony hedgehog. "Lance, help me out here," the blue hedgehog said to the silver one, who was daydreaming about Amy once more, thinking about her pink fur and her beautiful green eyes, the way that they expressed so much emotion…. He sometimes got carried away like that.

"Wh-what?" Lance stuttered, snapped out of his daydream.

"Ugh, never mind," Sonic said, rolling his eyes. This was the reason that he tried not to get mixed up with girls, because he didn't want to get all daydreamy and all that stuff with springtime and with the birds and the bees and all that crap like that.

"Sonic, this quarrel does not involve you," Knuckles said, his voice low.

"And…what exactly is the fight about again? I got lost somewhere back there around where one of you guys told the other that he had serious anger issues," said Sonic, even more annoyed than before if it was possible.

"It was _him_," Shadow growled as he glared viciously at Knuckles with his red eyes.

"Back off, idiot," Knuckles said venomously. "You've worked for Eggman, how can we trust you?"

"_Who's_ the idiot in this situation? Because, if my memory recalls it correctly, you were actually stupid enough to believe that Eggman would actually be good and that you willingly gave him a Chaos Emerald or so!" Shadow hissed back.

"Well, at least _I'm_ not full of myself," Knuckles shot back.

"Huh, that's coming from _you_?"

"Watch it, traitor!"

"Or what?"

"Or else!"

"That's all you can come up with?" Shadow growled, his voice threatening. He turned his glaring red gaze towards Sonic, meeting the other hedgehog—the faker's—emerald green eyes. "Can I hit him now?" he snarled, returning his glare to Knuckles' own violet one as they continued.

The girls were hearing the voices of Shadow and Knuckles slowly rising.

"Oh, great, _another_ fight?" Amy asked irritably.

"Yep, by the two dunces," Rouge replied, rolling her eyes. "Is that something with all guys? I mean, almost everyone with a Y chromosome somehow wants to get into a fight and they sometimes fight over the stupidest things…maybe it's a trait that all males share?"

"Not _all_ males," Amy objected.

"Yes, everyone except your precious Lance." Rouge rolled her eyes again, hoping that she wouldn't be like that when she fell in love with someone, because she would probably be sick of herself.

"I can't believe that they're at this again," Blaze sighed. "Why do they always fight?" she asked rhetorically, shaking her head.

"Well, we should break this up before something bad happens," Aria said, but she was mostly thinking about Shadow's safety more than Knuckles', honestly. She knew that he could easily blast any opponent, but still, she couldn't help but worry…

"Moron! You just rely on the power of the Chaos Emeralds! Without them, you're completely useless!" Knuckles shouted.

"_You_ just rely on brute force, and, mind you, I can hurt you without using my power over Chaos!" Shadow yelled back, his red eyes glaring. The noise was so loud now that Tails and Rose heard as well, and they became nervous as they listened, drawn away from their work.

"_You_ are just a weakling hiding behind energy that you were _made to control_! You weren't even _born_! _You _were _built_!"

"And _you_ are just a hot-headed full-of-yourself _coward_ just hiding behind brute strength!"

"Well, at least _I_ am able to take care of my friends! At least _I_ try to make sure that no harm comes to them!"

Some seemed to realize what turn this was taking; they were trying to hit home, each other's weak spots. The girls hurried out of the room, watching the furious red echidna and ebony hedgehog glare at each other, their anger seeming to fill the room.

"Really! And what do _I_ do, huh! Do I just sit around, guarding a gigantic hunk of rock every day!"

"That 'gigantic hunk of rock' is what powers the Chaos Emeralds! That's what gives you the most power, you idiot! And at least _I_ am actually able to protect those who I care about, and I _don't_ always guard the Master Emerald at every single moment! I see if my friends are OK! Because _I_ actually _care_! You don't seem to care at all about what happens to others!"

"You think so! How would you know! I'm not just a heartless monstrosity!"

"Really? I beg to differ!"

"What do you have to say! I protect my friends at all costs!"

"I have plenty to say! If you say that you protect your friends at all costs, then why weren't you able to protect Maria!"

_That _comment hit home. Suddenly, it felt like the air had been knocked clean out of Shadow, and the fresh wave of pain that he felt made the pain given to him by the monster the umbrae had formed suddenly seem pale in comparison. The world suddenly seemed to shatter around him, that moment that he heard her name said once again, as everything flashed before his eyes. She saved him from the G.U.N., who had been looking for the Ultimate Life Form created by Professor Gerald Robotnik, and he had been trapped. She had ejected the pod, saved him…

And he had watched the man shoot, the bullet pass through her chest, her fall to the ground, red blood flow around the wound, on the floor, all around her. Her last words resonated in his ears.

"Sayonara…Shadow…the Hedgehog…"

And he had watched her die right before his very eyes. And he had been completely helpless about it. It was then that he had been launched into space

"Knuckles, you idiot!" Amy growled viciously. Aria went over to Shadow quickly, placing her hand gently on his arm, looking at his face…it contained all the sadness of the world, and more. She'd never seen a more anguished expression; it was pure sadness, and his eyes were wide as he remembered the whole thing as it flashed in front of his eyes.

"Why would you say something like that!" Sonic yelled angrily.

Blaze had gone over to Shadow as well, reassuringly placing a gentle hand on his shoulder. Shadow usually wasn't the type of person who needed comfort, but right now, when he had nearly seen Blaze die right before his very eyes; it had not been too long ago, and that was fresh in his memory. And remembering that he was too weak to save Maria, how she had died before his eyes, seeing her deep blue eyes slide shut as the blood pooled around her…it was too much for anyone to bear.

Shadow's face of pure pain, pure sadness, pure horror, suddenly turned into hate and rage.

"You…you have no idea…what I did to try and stop it…:" Shadow snarled, clenching his fists, his rage seething into his voice as he glared—a bone-chilling glare of hate—at Knuckles. "I…I tried so hard to save her…I…I've regretted that day for the rest of my life…I tried to avenge her death for her…she never did anything wrong…" His rage was making his voice strained, and, suddenly, a growl of no words ripped through his teeth.

"Shadow, calm down," Blaze said quietly, giving a low hiss towards Knuckles as she glared at him.

"I…well, he dissed the Master Emerald…" Knuckles said stubbornly.

"DAMN YOU!" Shadow roared, the Chaos Energy suddenly appearing on his skin as he was surrounded by a yellow light, coming off of him like electricity crackling around him. "DAMN YOU, Knuckles! Talking about a _rock_ is not like knowing that _someone's life was lost because you weren't strong enough to save them_! _Do you know what I've done to try to fix it! Do you know the pain I've felt, knowing that she's gone! DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I HAVE BEEN THROUGH!_"

Shadow let out another roar of rage. "Do you _understand_ what's it's like to _lose_ the one person who is most dear to you, _your one and only friend who ever took the time to know you_! Do you _understand_ what it's like to _see them die before your very eyes_! Maria never did anything wrong, _never_! She was the most _pure of mind_, the most _kind_, the most _gentle_ person I'd known then! _And she was killed right in front of me WHILE I STOOD HELPLESS WATCHING HER DIE, SAW HER BLEED TO DEATH RIGHT BEFORE MY EYES!_"

There was complete, utter silence in the room as Shadow's chest heaved up and down with his anger, his breaths deep, fists clenched tightly as his fingertips dug into his palm, teeth grinding together as the white Chaos energy continued to erupt around him.

"I've always hated them ever since then…" Shadow continued to growl, his red eyes locked onto Knuckles shocked violet ones. "I've always sworn revenge on those who killed her…those ruthless monsters who took Maria away from me…who made Professor Gerald go mad with grief…who took a completely innocent life away, before she was able to see what the planet was like with her own eyes…before she even had a chance to live…. They…they took her away from me…Maria…"

The last word came out as a choked, pained cry, and the Chaos energy continued to burst around him. "So you, Knuckles," he growled, his voice low and threatening, "have no right to say that I didn't try…I did everything I could to stop them, but it was so fast, and I was trapped…I was completely useless…I couldn't even save my own friend, but I tried with all my might…and yet that wasn't even enough to stop those bloodthirsty killers…"

Shadow continued to glare at Knuckles, but, for some strange reason, he had a smirk on his face. "Of course, I did pacify my need for revenge somewhat…as soon as I found out where the G.U.N. were staying…"

**-FLASHBACK-**

"Something's completely breached our defenses!" a voice said, breaking up with static over the line.

The commander grabbed the walkie-talkie. "Have you caught sight of…whatever it is!" he yelled into the piece.

"No, sir," the panicked voice said, more static making the words garbled and almost incomprehensible. "We just know that it first passed through all the cameras without being noticed—it moved so fast, sir!—and then it destroyed the cameras. After that, it went right through our defenses, barreling through them like they were nothing…sir, like there was _nothing_ at all in its way!"

"Tell the others to fire at will!" the commander shouted. "Show no mercy to whatever this is!"

"But, sir, the people are fleeing! I've contacted to tell you that we all are retreating!"

"WHAT? Tell them to go back, to go right back to their posts and fire at this thing at will!"

"Sir, this thing is unbeatable, and if we don't go now, it'll get us, too!"

"What do you mean?"

"Sir, we've lost communications with everyone else after they told us that they were breached. This thing—whatever it is—has somehow _killed_ them. There's no other explanation for why they aren't replying and why we don't hear static, because if we did, that means that we would have known that somehow this thing disconnected the communication devices. But there's no reply!" the panicked voice continued.

"The thing is killing people?"

"Yes, sir."

"Well, FIRE LIKE HELL!" the commander nearly screeched.

"Sir, I'll tell the others…what? No, no, no!"

"What is it?" the commander asked quickly, sensing the sudden, true panic and fear that had entered the other's voice.

"Leave me alone!" the voice screamed at something. "No, please, no, I'm innocent!"

"Do you see it?" The commander's voice was quiet, as not to alert the thing.

"Sir…it's a black hedgehog, and…please, no, don't hurt me!" the person continued. "I have nothing to do with any of this! Please, I've just joined the G.U.N. not too long ago, barely a month, please don't kill me! I'm completely innocent, I haven't harmed a soul!"

"So what?" a voice, a deep growl that the commander was barely able to hear, said to the assistant, who seemed to be cornered. For some strange reason, he did not see anything on any of the cameras, but he stopped looking the moment he heard the voice. It filled him with pure terror.

"So…if you kill me, it'll be for no reason!" the voice continued to panic, stalling, grasping at strings.

Black hedgehog…black hedgehog…something clicked in the commander's memory. Ultimate Life Form. That girl. The pod. The pure anger in the hedgehog's eyes, the pure pain, when that girl had been shot. He remembered who killed her, too. Brian Carson. One of the best shots ever on the G.U.N.

"Maria was killed for no reason as well," the growl said, the voice threatening, full of hatred.

"Please! Please, I beg you, don't kill me!"

"Maybe you should've learned more about the G.U.N. before you joined them," the voice that struck the commander and all those in the room who were hearing this with pure horror. "Maybe you should've learned about the Space Colony ARK. And maybe you should learn that life isn't fair, either."

"No…please…" the assistant's voice was choking now. And there was suddenly silence after a sickening _thud_. The man's body falling, dead, into the cold, hard floor.

"You're next," the black hedgehog growled, the voice suddenly much louder, probably because it had picked up the walkie-talkie. "And, also, I'll know who killed Maria. And I have a warning for whoever did that to her, for whoever took her away from me: you are going to _rue the day that you were BORN_!"

There was suddenly static as the hedgehog probably crushed the thing in his grip.

There was absolute silence.

Then the panicked screaming began.

Suddenly, everyone was running for the door, tears streaming down some of their cheeks as they ran for the exits, not wanting to die. Some people even pushed others out of their way for their desperate struggle to survive.

Brian Carson was still working for the G.U.N., and he ran into the main room, his brown eyes shooting around, panicked. "D-did he really mean that?" Carson gulped nervously.

Suddenly, there was a loud _BOOM!_ as the wall suddenly exploded, coming down in a cloud of dust, pieces flying around, debris falling like rain. People were coughing, placing their mouths in their elbows as they struggled for air, closing their eyes against the harmful substances. As the smoke slowly cleared, a black hedgehog came into view, with red streaks in his quills and ruby red eyes, full of pure hatred as he glared at them with his fierce eyes. Everyone suddenly froze in shock and fear as they saw his threatening figure and the Chaos energy crackling around him.

His ruby red eyes darted around, then fixed themselves on Carson's face. _"YOU!"_ he snarled, a sound of pure hatred as the energy around him erupted even more fiercely, suddenly seeming much more threatening, if possible.

Carson gasped, backing away, nearly tripping over the table in fright.

"_You're_ the one who killed Maria!" the ebony hedgehog roared. "I remember your face exactly! _YOU'RE THE ONE WHO PULLED THE TRIGGER AND SHOT MARIA AND KILLED HER!_"

"Yes, I did, and I'll always regret doing that," Carson said quickly. "But, please, don't harm anyone else, just take me, the others are innocent."

The commander liked this about Carson as well. He was willing to take a bullet for others, and he really wasn't all that bad to his comrades; but on the field, he was a vicious killer, and he tried not to be moved by the deaths of those who had lost their lives at his hand. He was an honest soldier, and he was one of the bravest men on the squad.

But the hedgehog simply glared at Brian Carson, his face devoid of any emotion but pure hatred and rage as he glared at the soldier. "Maybe you should have thought about that before you pulled the trigger," he growled, his voice low and threatening and slightly unstable, like it could explode at any second. "Maria was innocent as well. She never harmed anyone. All she wanted to do was to see what the planet was like with her own eyes. And even _that_ you took away. You took away the joy that I would have felt when she first laid eyes on the planet. And you took her away from me, forever, and she was completely innocent, just like your comrades here."

Suddenly, the room was engulfed in white, and people's panicked screams were heard. When the light disappeared, all that was left of anyone—except Carson—was just a charred mess on the floor, dead. Carson ran over to the dead body of the commander, feeling strange grief. Unlike the people that he was assigned to kill, this death was _not_ at his own hands. He knew it was a twisted way of seeing the world—that those whom he killed did not have any affect, but deaths caused by others shook him—but it was the way it was with him.

He stared at the black hedgehog's furious red eyes. "Why…why would you do something like this?" he stammered, horrified, looking at the dead bodies littering the room.

"Why would _you_ kill an innocent girl like Maria?" the hedgehog growled back, eyes like flame. "She had done nothing to you, and yet you kill her without a thought at all, and seeming to have no remorse. I am just returning the favor." He continued to glare at him, his voice threateningly controlled.

"But why did you not kill me along with them?" Carson nearly shouted.

The monster that had killed all of those in that single blast simply continued to look at him with furious eyes. "I wanted to save you for last so that you know what's coming for you…I really was considering waiting for you to run away, then hunt you down for the fun of it and see your horrified face as your doom suddenly appeared, knowing that I was coming for you…but I really am quite anxious to get this done, and patience was never really one of my strong points, least of all one of my virtues…"

He started to stalk towards the man who shot Maria, seeming like an avenging demon with the energy crackling fiercely around him as his black fur was illuminated by the light, making his ruby eyes glow.

Carson scrambled towards the exit, tripping over the dead, charred bodies. When he shot a panicked glance back at the monstrosity, he saw that the black hedgehog was smirking a bit.

"Please, please don't hurt me," Carson whimpered as a last attempt.

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't kill you right this moment and end all that pain for you right now," the hedgehog demanded in a growl, glaring at him with that same smirk on his face.

"I…I was just following orders," the man said meekly.

The hedgehog—the Ultimate Life Form—glared even more, his gaze suddenly seeming to have more fire in it.

"That's not good enough," he hissed, and then he grabbed the man in a chokehold, squeezing him around the throat. Carson struggled, feebly grabbing at the hedgehog's hands, but his attempts were futile. The Ultimate Life Form began to squeeze harder and harder, and the man's face was already turning slightly pale, his lips purple, eyes beginning to roll back into his head.

Just before he passed out, the hedgehog released his hold on him, and Carson fell down on the floor, gasping for breath, his chest heaving up and down with the strenuous effort to breathe. He heard the footsteps of the monster suddenly come over to him, walking slowly and deliberately towards him.

"Now, you shall know what true fear and pain is," the ebony hedgehog growled venomously. As Carson weakly turned his head to face his attacker, he saw that the hedgehog's hand was extended, palm outwards, towards him.

"I hope that this is extremely painful; then you'll realize what Maria felt," the hedgehog snarled, and a brilliant white orb of light shot out from his palm and landed squarely on Carson's chest, right where his heart was.

Suddenly, the man was burning; well, he wasn't sure if he really way, but he knew that he felt like he was burning, like acid was suddenly eating away at his chest and wearing the skin away, getting to his internal organs. The white-hot pain made him see nothing else; he wasn't sure if he was screaming or completely silent, if he was thrashing around or if he was frozen, if he was looking at anything or not.

"You seem to understand now…but it's too late for anything. A life for a life," the hedgehog said.

"You…you monster," Carson managed to spit out.

"_I_ was never the monster. I had peacefully lived with Maria and Professor Gerald for many years, and I had not ever done anything to harm them. But then _you _all had to show up and take Maria away from us. And that is a crime that is unforgivable. _You_ are the one who is the monster here."

And then, the world faded away to oblivion for Carson. The Ultimate Life Form looked down with satisfaction at the body, lifeless, unmoving, as the last shuddering breath escaped from the man, and then turned into a still corpse. The brown eyes were open, glazed and sightless, and the face was still a mask of horror as the open eyes stared at the hedgehog.

**-END FLASHBACK-**

"I got my revenge on them," Shadow said, his voice low, a smirk still on his face. "Yes, I had planned on killing them one at a time, so that all the others would know that I was coming for them, and saving the man who shot Maria for last so that he was absolutely positive that he was next…but my patience wasn't that strong that day. I think that I actually did him a favor; if I had actually carried out my plan, he would have felt much more pain and helplessness than he did when I destroyed him."

His aura was calming down slightly as he closed his eyes, remembering everything: the horrified face of the man who had killed Maria as he faced his death, the way that his face had twisted in agony when Shadow shot the pain into him, that man that had been talking to the commander, the way that his light blue eyes had been pleading for him not to do anything…strangely enough, he felt no remorse whatsoever for killing them.

They deserved it. They were the ones who had taken Maria from him.

Most of the others were staring, horrified, at Shadow, who suddenly seemed a thousand times more intimidating than he usually was. Lance, on instinct, went over to Amy and deliberately shielded her body with his own, tense and ready if anything happened to protect her, while Rose and Tails were just staring, horrified, at the hedgehog. Rouge's eyes were widened, and Knuckles had taken a few steps back. Sonic, Blaze, and Aria were the only ones who didn't move away from Shadow; Aria kept her grip on Shadow's arm, trying to soothe him, while Blaze did the same, and while Sonic glared at Knuckles.

"Say you're sorry," Sonic muttered so that only Knuckles could hear.

"Shadow, I…I'm sorry that I said that. I didn't understand…" Knuckles said, then turned away so that he didn't have to meet Shadow's glaring red gaze.

"Shh, it's all right, Shadow," Aria murmured softly. She began to sing that lullaby that always soothed him, the one that she saved especially for him. The aura around him stopped growing; he was finally calmed down. Blaze let go of Shadow and went up to Knuckles, glaring at him with her fierce golden eyes.

"If you're smart,"—_which he usually isn't_, she thought as she growled at him—"you won't ever bring that up again. And I don't care if you two have any of your stupid little fights; they are all pointless, so you shouldn't resort to making others feel hurt just to get back at him for saying something that ticked you off."

"What are you guys, my parents?" Knuckles muttered, rolling his eyes, then shut up once Blaze glared once more and as fire came to her fists threateningly.

_Even when she's angry, she's still amazingly beautiful,_ a small voice in a certain blue hedgehog's head—not The Darkness, definitely, but more like his own conscience—piped up suddenly.

Sonic quickly shook the thought away, wondering what was wrong with him. Was he coming down with something? Maybe he was.

_Stupid voice,_ he thought angrily, because, once that thought was there, he actually wasn't able to completely forget it.

"Shadow, come on," Aria murmured softly, gently tugging on his arm as she led him to one of the bedrooms, so that he would be able to calm down completely in private. Once they disappeared, everyone collectively glared at Knuckles.

"OK, OK, I get it! I'm seriously sorry that I said that!" Knuckles said, putting his hands up in the air in surrender. "I won't ever do anything like that, cross my heart."

"I'm keeping track," Rouge muttered as she rolled her eyes.

In the other room, there was silence. Aria was silent, waiting for Shadow to talk, if he wanted to; and, if he didn't then it would be all right. His amazing ruby eyes were full of pain, sadness, but no remorse for killing those men; his hands gripped the white cloth of the bed so tightly that Aria was sure that he was going to rip if to shreds. But he didn't, keeping it under control.

Just then, Aria knew that his face, like this would appear in her nightmares as well. As she slept at night, she now realized that Shadow figured prominently in her dreams and in her nightmares: her dreams were of when he had showed her his power over Chaos, how handsome he had looked under the light, the way that he had stood in front of her to protect her from the umbrae and the penumbrae, the way that his ruby eyes were always soft when they set their intoxicating gaze on her…. And, in her nightmares, the figures of Shadow being hurt by that monster the umbrae made was the main figure, tied with the way that he seemed helpless as he writhed on the ground in pain, his cries resonating in his ears, his gasps nearly wrenching her heart into two, and now, the way that his face looked like there was no words to describe this sadness, this pain…she knew that she would have nightmares of this, too.

"Why?" Shadow suddenly asked quietly.

"Why what?" Aria replied gently.

"Why did she have to die?" Shadow said, knowing that he wouldn't get an answer. He then calmed down fully, but there was still sadness as he remembered Maria and her smile, as they walked through the spaceship together, looking longingly down at the planet from their high view in the sky.

"I'm really sorry, Shadow," Aria whispered softly, taking his hand with her own and gently squeezing it.

Two things happened at once then. Thing Number One: the agonizing pain that he was feeling, that had been recently refreshed, about losing Maria, seemed just a smidgen less agonizingly painful.

Thing Number Two: suddenly, everything seemed to fall into place, like Shadow's life had always been missing a puzzle piece that was somehow lost, and now it was suddenly found and placed in the exact spot, making him whole, complete, once more. He realized that once Aria gently said those words, when she reassuringly squeezed his hand, when he looked into her amazing eyes, the eyes that he could not place a specific color to, which made him even more interested in her beautiful eyes. The missing puzzle piece had always been _her_. Even when he had no idea that she even existed, it would always be _her_. Nothing else could fit exactly right into that empty space but _her_.

And, at the same time, Aria was having her own epiphany. Here, right in front of her, was one person that always occupied her thoughts, was omnipresent in both her happiest dreams and daydreams and in her worst nightmares. It all made sense.

Why, when their fingers had touched, all the illusions that the umbrae had given them, had all just suddenly vanished.

Why, when Aria herself had to hurt herself to heal Shadow, she hadn't really felt the pain; her main concern had been him.

Why, when Shadow needed someone to talk to, he usually spoke to Aria, slightly more often then he even spoke to Blaze.

Everything suddenly made total, perfect, complete sense.

"Aria…" Shadow started, looking into her amazing, perfect eyes.

"Yes?" Her heart suddenly raced to a million miles per hour as her breathing quickened slightly.

"…Thank you. For…everything," Shadow said, giving her one of his rare and heart-stopping or heart-racing grins. Once again, his eyes were soft and gentle as he looked at her, and that made Aria's heart thud even faster. "Thank you for saving my butt for quite a few times," the ebony hedgehog added with another grin.

"Well, you're welcome," Aria replied, smiling.

"Aria, there's more." Shadow gently reached his hand over to her, his fingers gently grazing her cheek, caressing it. "I…ever since you've come into my life, I've felt…complete. Whole. With you in it, I feel _completely _whole. You…you're the one who's brought me completely out of my solitude."

"What're you trying to say?" Aria whispered, her words barely audible. She probably guessed, but she wanted him to say it himself, to hear the words, to know that they were real.

"Aria," Shadow said softly, his voice warm, perfect, gazing deeply into her eyes.

His next words were the most beautiful thing that Aria would ever hear.

Shadow murmured, so softly, so perfectly, "Aria, I love you."

There was dead silence for a millisecond. Just a millisecond as they stared at each other's intoxicating eyes.

And after that one millisecond, Aria placed her lips against Shadow's in a kiss.

It was perfect. Completely perfect and right as they kissed, their first kiss, and it was completely amazing. Soon, Shadow inclined his head for more, a low moan in his throat that drove Aria crazy, because Shadow was usually—_reserved_ was the word for it. But not now. Both of them seemed to be suddenly locked in a timeless bubble, where time was meaningless, it meant completely nothing, it was irrelevant. Shadow brought his hand behind Aria's neck and brought her head up gently for more, his other arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her closer, as Aria had one hand behind his neck, the other resting on his chest. It was completely and utterly perfect; there were no words to describe it.

The only reason that they pulled away was that both of them had begun to turn dizzy, forgetting how to breathe. They broke away, gasping, each other's eyes shining, and, once he had caught his breath, Shadow began to incline his head once more, but Aria beat him to it, and they continued to kiss passionately for quite a long time afterwards.

_Maybe,_ Shadow thought as the emotions flowed through him, as the one person that he suddenly cared for most in the world was in his arms, sharing the mutual love that they felt for each other as they continued their breathless experience, _maybe, life actually _is_ worth living._

**Hey everybody! So, yeah, sorry for this mad late update, but I told you guys already in the beginning: project here, project there, it was complete insanity, **_**plus**_** the fact that I still have a severe case of writers' block and that I can't exactly come up with the best things at the best times. Hope it wasn't too bad, and I hope you liked the romance (oh-la-la). And thanks for everyone who has reviewed, your reviews on this are what really help me out! Thank you all very much, and I hope that you continue to read this! ^^ Have no idea when my next update will be, so just bear with me, all right everyone? Thanks! ^^**


	13. Light and Darkness

Chapter 13

_Hedgehog, I am not something to be reckoned with. Either you join me, or I somehow will get that little princess to join me, even though she is not nearly as powerful as you, or I will simply enjoy myself by killing one of your friends._

_For the zillionth time, your threats can't do anything to me. You said that before, in that battle; you said that one of my friends was going to be taken away from me, and yet, all the people that I care about are still here. And Blaze would never join you, never, and neither will I, so I think that you could save yourself a lot of time by just giving up now._

_Do you really think that you are even _close_ to me in power? You have no idea how much power I have, hedgehog, I could easily kill you now if I wanted to._

_Then why don't you?_

_Because if you're dead, then I won't have much use of you any more, will I?_

_You're just stalling; you can't kill me inside my own head, the only time that you can really hurt me is by using your butt-ugly shadow creatures._

_You shout really learn to watch that tongue—or, shall I say, mind—of yours, hedgehog. You have no idea of the power that I am capable of being able to conjure at times._

_Yeah, that's what they always say, but then it turns out that they're all talk and no fight._

Pain suddenly erupted in the blue hedgehog's head as he clutched his skull, clenching his teeth, forcing his mouth shut so that the horrible curses and sounds that he was going to make wouldn't escape from his mouth.

_You were saying?_ the voice taunted in his head.

_Just shut up and leave me alone, damn it. I'm not joining your damn army,_ Sonic thought back furiously as he shut his eyes against the new, fresh wave of pain that The Darkness was sending him. It was all he could do not to break down and cry like a little baby, shaking his head to try and clear the sudden acid that seemed to be burning through him.

Blaze noticed that he was being tortured by The Darkness in his mind once more, and she went over to him, concerned. It was only her in the room right now; Amy and Lance were off to the beach, where Lance finally had the guts to ask Amy out on a date, much to the pink hedgehog's exuberance; Knuckles had left with Rouge a little after that skirmish with Shadow, after he had brought up the painful topic of Maria; Tails and Rose had went back to the room, where they had originally been fixing up Tails' plane; and Aria and Shadow were somewhere, being strangely quiet behind a closed door.

The lilac cat simply waited for when he would be able to actually form words from his mouth; she knew that now, Sonic wasn't able to notice anything but the blinding pain and the voices in his head, his own and The Darkness conflicting. She had gone through it herself, but The Darkness seemed to have finally given up on her, setting its sights on the cobalt hedgehog next.

_Oh, I think that you will, unless you want more of that,_ The Darkness said in Sonic's head, and more pain filled his head, and he squeezed his eyes shut tighter against the pain. His brain suddenly felt like it had been replaced by a supernova of pure, raw agony.

_As I was saying before—_

_You were trying to make a point? I wouldn't've guessed,_ was the sarcastic thought from Sonic in reply.

More pain exploded.

_Really, those sharp remarks, hedgehog, are going to get you in plenty of trouble someday. You should not get me angry, unless you want to see the worst possible death that I see fit happen to _you_._

Sonic was about to think back something witty, but the next words of The Darkness caught his attention, and in a very bad way indeed, like in an uh-oh-we're-in-trouble kind of way.

_You see, it won't be long before I am able to come to this world in my complete form. I have gathered almost enough strength to be able to come to your world, and once I do, I will take away the planet's energy as well, just as I have for the past few millennia._

_Whaddaya mean by THAT? _This conversation had now honestly caught Sonic's attention.

The Darkness wasn't torturing him any more; it was probably thinking about what to say. Blaze noticed that he wasn't in pain any more, but that he wasn't exactly focused on her either. She gave him a questioning look, but he held up a finger: one sec. Blaze understood that something must be important and she didn't say anything.

_You didn't actually believe that I only conquered ONE world? That's too pitiful. No, I've been around for many millennia, from the dawn of time. When there is a light, there is always darkness to counteract along with it. My sister is The Light, whom none of you have seen…_

When The Darkness spoke about that, it seemed like it was trailing off in thought.

This was getting real interesting. _The Light? How come we've never heard of it—her—before? And how'd you guys get created?_

_I've told you, you fickle living creature, we have been around since the very dawn of time. We both are actually the entities that lie in Light and Darkness, what makes them so. Sister was too good, too kind, and she was defeated easily by my power; when she wouldn't comply to my bidding, to help me gain more power, I simply overpowered her. Then, I traveled, planet to planet, universe to universe, and simply stole away the life force, the core of the planet, and added it to my own power. I am now far more powerful than I was when I was first created._

It was a bit much for Sonic to take in all at once, so he tried to process the information slowly, so that all of it would make sense. There was Darkness, and then there was Light. They were two different entities that lived in fear of the other—Sonic knew that The Darkness would never admit to actually being scared of The Light, but the tone had been noticeable.

_And that's what you wanna do when you come here?_ Sonic thought back._ But what happened to The Light?_

_If I did know, do you honestly think that I would tell you? I am no fool, even though you seem to take me as one,_ The Darkness replied. Thankfully, there was no more acidic pain as it continued to converse with the speedy hedgehog. _You see, if you don't join me, you will perish along with the rest of the world and your planet, and it will be such a loss to me._

_You actually think that I care about what YOU think is a loss? If I DO give in—which I never will, so you should just give up—then it would be for a perfectly understandable reason to help others, not to add to the likes of YOU._

He knew he was treading on dangerous ground, trying to make it across extremely thin ice, but he was taking his chances now.

_Like I said before, I think that your mind will change soon enough._ And, with that, more acid suddenly filled his head, and that marked the end of the shaky truce that they seemed to have held just a minute before.

After the horrible pain ebbed away, Sonic didn't hear the voice of The Darkness any longer. He looked at Blaze, seeing that her beautiful golden eyes were looking at him expectantly, already demanding him to tell her what had happened.

So, without her even having to say anything, he explained it all to her, about The Light, and what The Darkness has done to all the worlds as it sailed to cosmos and the universes, just searching for more planets to destroy.

"Do you think…" Blaze trailed off, looking at the floor.

"What?" Sonic asked, still slightly breathless with his whole explanation.

"Maybe, just maybe…The Light will be able to help us. We have no idea of The Darkness was bluffing or not about this whole deal about having a sister, but what if it wasn't, and what if The Light was able to defeat The Darkness?" she replied, her voice very soft, almost like a feathery whisper, nearly inaudible.

"That _is_ a possibility, but we have no idea _who_ or _what_ The Light is," Sonic said, thinking out loud. "We would need to look for clues and stuff about The Light and The Darkness, like, how they originated…"

"Well, didn't The Darkness say that they originated from the very dawn of time?" Blaze said quietly. "That they have been here ever since the world was somehow created, ever since different dimensions were made?"

"True," Sonic agreed. "But we need to find a bit more background information…maybe I could actually _try_ to talk to The Darkness without it having the first word in my head…"

"I don't think that would be the best idea. The Darkness may get annoyed, and who knows what pain you'll go through next?" Blaze said; she had seen how much pain Sonic had endured these past times that The Darkness had tortured him, and it was hard for her to see him in such pain, such agony, that he had to gnash his teeth together to keep from crying out.

"I think that we should just forget that I ever said anything, all right?" Blaze suddenly said. "The others…well, they _should_ know about The Light, but we need to protect them, Sonic. Tails and Rose are still very young, and Amy…she has Lance, but we need quite a few good fighters to stay here and hold down the fort. We have all seen what happens when we split up, and we nearly got destroyed by the penumbrae. We should try to stick together as much as possible and stay on our guard at all times."

"Good idea," Sonic grinned at her after thinking about it for a few seconds.

And, with his trademark grin on his face, Blaze couldn't help herself but smile back.

Meanwhile, Shadow and Aria were in the different room, breathless from their recent experience of having the other's lips on their own, their eyes shining with the perfect love that they were feeling. Now, they were simply content to be with each other: Aria was glad to be snuggled into Shadow's perfect, lean-muscled chest as her hands laid on his chest fur, his strong, ropy, muscular arms wrapped around her, eyes closed as she breathed in the scent that came off of him—the only word to describe it was perfect, feeling and hearing his strong heartbeat under her palms; and Shadow was perfectly content to have his arms around Aria, to hold her and guard her against anything and everything now and forevermore.

Needless to say, they both had never been happier than they were right at this moment, except for their recent experience that they had just gone through.

"You know," Shadow murmured—his voice was perfect, soft and smooth like silk, Aria thought as she reveled in the sound of it—as he continued to play with her hair, running his fingers through it, "I want to freeze this moment and live in it forever."

"I feel the same way," Aria breathed, and, to Shadow, her voice was like music itself.

"I love you," Shadow said softly into her ear, and the sound of those words were so perfect, so amazing, and so true.

"I love you, too," Aria whispered back, and she met his ruby red eyes, and their lips met in a kiss once more.

"Aria…" Shadow breathed gently, as they moved back a bit after their kiss, his hand resting on the back of her neck, "you aren't scared of me? After you heard about all that I've done, the innocent lives that I've killed?"

"No, because I know that you wouldn't ever do something to me, or something like that to any of your friends," Aria replied, her voice quiet and sure, her eyes closed as she felt his breath on her cheeks; their faces were so close, and the desire was too irresistible, and she kissed him again. Once again, it was as if time was suddenly meaningless to them as they continued.

"We have to go out there; who knows how long we've been in this room for?" Shadow said, pulling gently away.

"I know, the others are probably getting worried," Aria smiled.

"They _should_ be worried—worried that I'll keep you in here even longer," Shadow grinned.

She laughed, and her voice was like golden bells.

They eventually walked out of the room, hand in hand, and it seemed like they would never let go of each other, never allow the other to break contact with the new bond that they shared.

"Glad you guys could join us," Sonic said, with a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Blaze sent him a Look, and then smiled at Aria and Shadow.

"Are you all right?" Blaze asked Shadow gently.

"Actually, I'm better than I have been in…forever," Shadow replied honestly, and Aria squeezed his hand as she looked at him, her gaze full of the love that they mutually shared.

Blaze's small smile grew slightly bigger as she saw. She was glad that they had both realized that they loved each other, she noticed. She was glad for Shadow, because now he had love in his life—the love that he and the lilac cat herself shared was simply a bond between siblings, not like _this_ love, the power of finding your true love, the one you would forever be with in the world—and she was glad that Aria had someone else to talk to besides Lance, because the bond that she and Lance shared was much like the bond between Blaze and Shadow—between brother and sister.

"Well, there's something that you guys probably will find interesting," Sonic said abruptly, and instantly went into a replay of the conversation that he had with The Darkness, about The Light, saying that maybe The Light would help them, but not mentioning whose idea it was. For that, Blaze was grateful.

"The Light may be simply a myth, but maybe, if we find her, she could help us out," Sonic finished. "If she's real, maybe we'll be able to have more of a chance to defeat The Darkness."

"Aria, did you have any idea there was anything called The Light?" Blaze asked.

Aria shook her head. "No, we had always thought that The Darkness was just an enemy of our world; we had no idea that it had been feeding off the cores of many other planets for millennia on end."

"And it's coming soon," Sonic reminded them. "We need to get ready. It warned me that it's coming soon, and that if Blaze and I don't join it, then we'll, I quote, 'perish along with the rest of the world.' A bit dramatic, no?"

Blaze quirked a smile at him, but then it disappeared. "Sonic, we can't take something like this lightly; The Darkness was able to destroy the world that Aria had originally been in before, with Lance and Rose. They're the only survivors."

"True…Aria, what is it like, when The Darkness comes in its complete form?" Sonic asked, looking at the other sea-green cat after agreeing with Blaze.

"I…I don't know. Lance, Rose, and I were sent away by the Elder before we were able to see The Darkness in its complete form. All that we saw was the horrible storms that it was creating to ravage the planet, to tear it apart," Aria admitted. "It's perfect form…" She shuddered involuntarily, imagining all the horrible things it could be like.

"We have to be ready for whatever The Darkness is doing. It said that it would be here soon?" Shadow asked.

"Yep," Sonic replied.

"We should call the others," Shadow said, not mentioning the names.

"Knuckles and Rouge, right?" said Blaze quietly.

Shadow nodded, refusing to mention the red echidna's name until he calmed down a bit more from his insults. Aria squeezed his hand comfortingly before he was able to lose it once more as he thought about the pain that Knuckles made him relive.

"Well…Blaze and I will get Knuckles and Rouge, while you guys stay here and hold down the fort," Sonic said. Aria nodded as Blaze walked over to the door and got ready to leave with Sonic.

"See you guys later," Sonic grinned, and then, without having to say anything, he and Blaze dashed off together.

After they left, Aria placed her head in Shadow's chest as he instinctively wrapped his arms around her.

"The Darkness's complete form…it's horrifying to possibly imagine," Aria whispered into his strong, firm, comforting chest.

"I'll _never_ let The Darkness hurt you, Aria," Shadow said gravelly as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"I know that you'll always protect me," Aria murmured back, closing her eyes.

If the world probably wasn't going to be destroyed soon, and if everything was right and there were no Eggmen to deal with, then Aria might have possibly called this world a utopia, the most perfect and the most safe place possible.

But, of course, there's never such a thing as a utopia.

But, as Shadow leaned down and pressed his lips against Aria's own, as she wrapped her arms around his neck as he held her around her thin waist, Aria knew that this was the closest thing to heaven or a utopia could possibly be.

**ON ANGEL ISLAND…**

"You _what_!" Knuckles exclaimed, surprised after all that Sonic had told him.

"Knuckles I've explained it twice already," Sonic said, his patience wearing thin.

"I know; it's just so impossible that I think you've gone completely mad, and I hope that you somehow get it out of your system soon so that you can talk to me sober and sane," the red echidna retorted, his glaring violet eyes more surprised than glaring now.

"Has Knuckles always been this slow since I've been away?" Blaze whispered to Rouge. "Because that first time that I met him, he didn't seem to have any brains whatsoever, and I thought he'd actually started to get a head on his shoulders."

Rouge sighed and rolled her pretty turquoise eyes. "That's Knuckie for ya," the white bat said, and that was all the explanation that Blaze really needed on the subject.

"Look, man, I've been saying exactly what I was told by The Darkness when he got into my brains again," Sonic tried to explain. "And we think that The Light might be able to help us, if we can find her."

"Now I _know_ that you're insane," Knuckles muttered.

"I'm _not_ insane!" Sonic yelled, aggravated by his closed-mindedness. "The Darkness was telling me the absolute truth when it was speaking in my head, I know that for a fact, all right? And, anyway, if you don't believe my story, then just stay and wait for the arrival of The Darkness over at the workshop, all right?"

Knuckles muttered something under his breath about an epidemic that made you lose your mind.

"Ugh, you're completely impossible!" Sonic nearly growled in frustration. "Just…just wait in the workshop for The Darkness to come, OK? Forget everything that I said before, since you don't believe it."

Knuckles gave him one last suspicious glance before condescending to the blue hedgehog's request.

"Thanks, man," Sonic said, relieved that this whole thing was all over because he had been getting tired of arguing with Knuckles. At times, you just couldn't get the red echidna to see sense, like now, for instance.

"We'll see you there in a bit, all right?" Rouge said, since Knuckles seemed to be thinking about something.

Sonic and Blaze both nodded, and they dashed back off to the workshop once more.

As soon as they were gone, Rouge turned to Knuckles and asked him, "What is it?"

"I've been thinking over what Sonic said before…about The Light and all that," Knuckles said, seeming like he was talking to himself more than he was speaking to the bat. "And, there might be the slightest possibility that the story of The Light is somehow true, but…ugh, I can't think straight!"

"Gee, _that's_ nothing new," Rouge muttered under her breath, rolling her eyes once more.

"Oh, shut up, you stupid bat!" Knuckles yelled, irritated now.

"_I'm_ the one who's stupid? You should seriously look at your own problems before you look at others' problems," Rouge snapped back, getting slightly annoyed at him, not nearly as annoyed as he was at her.

"Just shut up! Why must you always talk to me! Why can't you ever just leave me alone!" Knuckles yelled, frustrated once more.

Rouge let out a scoff. "You think that I come by because I actually enjoy your company? What girl doesn't love a guy who almost never answers them back when they talk to them, or gets angry over the littlest things, or simply acts like a bricks wall and a total idiot at other times?" she continued, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Then why don't you go?" Knuckles asked, a little smug now as he came up with an idea.

"Because I feel kinda _sorry_ for you, but I'm not sure if that's the word that I'd use," Rouge retorted. "It's sometimes so boring just seeing you sulk around the Master Emerald all day, and, admit it, if it wasn't for me dropping by almost every day, then you'd be so lonely it's depressing."

"Actually, the day that you leave me alone will be the best day of my life," Knuckles muttered, a smirk on his face as he looked away from her, some smugness in his tone as he crossed his arms. His smirk got bigger as he nearly snickered, "But I know that you'll always come flying back."

Suddenly, something bonked him on the head, and he collapsed on the grassy ground of the floating Angel Island as he felt a lump start to grow from his head where he had gotten hit.

"What the heck was that for, Rouge!" Knuckles shouted, seriously pissed off at the white bat.

She was furious now, her ears quivering with rage as he turquoise eyes glared at him. "You don't treat me with any respect, and I think it's start time that I start getting some from you!"

"You don't _deserve_ any respect; you're so batty!" Knuckles yelled, earning himself once another whack on the head from Rouge, and then the weekly fight that always ensued from some type of argument between them began again.

**ELSEWHERE…**

"Well, _that_ could've gone better," Sonic muttered to Blaze as they ran from Angel Island towards the workshop.

Blaze laughed a bit, her eyes glowing with amusement, and Sonic quirked a grin at her.

"Well, at least Knuckles and Rouge are going to be coming back soon," Blaze murmured, "but I'm not sure how well he and Shadow are going to get along, after what he did to him…"

"I'm sure that they'll somehow settle their differences. Eventually," Sonic muttered that last word under his breath, earning another small smile from Blaze in reward.

"But there's something else bothering me…" Blaze said softly, looking away as she got lost in her thoughts.

"What is it?" Sonic asked, turning to look at her without breaking his smooth stride.

"Well, remember how The Darkness said that it's coming soon, in its perfect form? Why didn't it go in its perfect form before, when it destroyed the world that Lance and Aria and Rose came from? Why did it simply destroy the world in a storm?"

"Aria said that the Elder or whatever sent them away before they were able to see The Darkness in its complete form," he answered.

"Yes, I know that," she said quietly, "but why was it able to destroy the world without coming there? And why does it want to wait to come to this world in its complete form?"

"I have no idea," Sonic muttered. "It's all getting so confusing that sometimes I wanna run into a wall…oh, wait, I do that already."

Blaze rolled her eyes, knowing that Sonic _did_ run into walls, but the thing was that he was always able to run _on_ the walls, up and across, so he didn't have to worry about getting crushed.

"But, Blaze, I think everything'll finally make sense once we fight against The Darkness itself," Sonic said seriously. "Then everything'll finally come together, though I wish that it'd come together now so we'd get it."

Blaze gave him a nod, acknowledging that she agreed with him.

They continued to run back to Tails' workshop, but then, something happened.

That same, all-too-familiar feeling that something was wrong hit them. It seemed that suddenly, the birds had gone quiet and the air had gone still for that purpose as the chills crept up both of their spines, stopping them in their tracks.

"I have a bad feeling about this," Sonic muttered, his voice nearly a growl.

"Good, so it's not just me," Blaze whispered back, getting her flames ready at her hands.

A twig snapped, and both of them whipped around, jumping at the noise. Sonic had already taken a halfway protective stance in front of Blaze once more, not wanting to take any more chances. After hearing her scream like that those past few times, after seeing her hurt so badly, after seeing her nearly die right in front of his very eyes…he wasn't allowing _anything_ to hurt her without having to go through him first.

"Whoever you are, show yourself, you coward!" Sonic growled into the bushes where he had heard the noise.

Silence. Then…

A great metal foot stepped out from the bushes, huge and crushing the pretty bush in its way.

When the robot fully revealed itself, Sonic and Blaze both knew that they were probably in for an ass-kicking.

This robot was different from all the other robots that they've gone against; different from the one that they had encountered with Lance, Aria, and Rose on the newcomers' first encounter with the Eggmen, different from the ones that the Eggmen used to work together with the umbrae, different because there was something…strange about it.

The robot was completely ebony black, so dark that it seemed to block out the afternoon sunlight, engulfing both Sonic and Blaze in a dark shadow. Its emotionless glowing red eyes seemed to bore right through Sonic and Blaze's skin, making it seem even more menacing. The black body had two large, long arms: one was a large gun that seemed more like a thin cannon, and the other was just another hand, capable of grabbing things like this. There was nothing else on this to tell what it was, but they both knew that it was one of the Eggmen's robots, but, still, there was something off…

The Eggmen appeared in their little pods next to the robot.

"Haahaha, I see that E-sixty-five has left you two speechless, for once!" Eggman Nega cackled evilly.

The moment that he said that, both Sonic and Blaze instantly noticed what was different.

This robot, unlike all the others that they made by themselves, was somehow…emanating a shadowy aura, not like when Sonic turned into Dark Sonic, but like wisps of shadow were coming off it, like black smoke, and kind of like there was a thin haze on the large robot that made it seem slightly unreal, like it was party there and partly not there at the same time.

"What the hell were you guys _thinking_!" Sonic shouted at them, enraged as he understood what had happened: the Eggmen had once again struck up another bargain with The Darkness and were working together with it, and it had helped power up their most powerful robot yet.

"Well, you two are quite the annoying little cockroaches, you know, always popping back up when you squash them," Eggman laughed madly. Before either the cat or hedgehog could argue with the fact that they _always_ stopped the Eggmen, Eggman continued. "So, we simply asked The Darkness for more help by allowing some of the umbrae into this special robot."

"Why are you trying to work _together_ with The Darkness?" Blaze hissed. "You do realize what it's going to do, don't you? It's going to destroy this very world and turn it into crumbled, lifeless rocks floating endlessly through space, and you're going to _help_ it succeed in that mission?"

"Oh, please, the only thing that can do that is the Emeralds," Eggman Nega said, brushing it off, obviously not knowing Lance, Aria, and Rose's story about their original home. "And, anyway, why _shouldn't_ we help The Darkness? It seems to be your enemy, and, like the saying goes, 'the enemy of my enemy is my friend.'"

"You both really_ are_ mad," Sonic muttered under his breath, glaring at them fiercely with his now icy emerald green eyes.

"The Darkness will help us build Eggmanland, and an offer like that is too good to pass up!" Eggman continued, and both he and his counterpart cackled evilly once again, though, honestly, neither Sonic nor Blaze could find anything funny about that.

"Feel free to run away or beg for your lives," Eggman Nega taunted them.

"In your freaking dreams," Blaze growled.

"Ah, well…looks like they won't ever see reason, Nega," Eggman said to the other one, who was grinning evilly.

"Too bad for them," Eggman Nega sighed with false sympathy.

A snarl was held back in Sonic's throat as he continued to shield Blaze, who was gathering flames to her hands and was glaring at them with her fierce golden eyes that seemed to be alight with fire themselves.

"E-sixty-five, I think it's about time that you showed these pipsqueaks how truly helpless they are against you," Eggman said, seeming almost bored, but he had an evil grin on his face once more that was just about as horrifying as his almost uninterested tone.

With that, the robot lunged for Sonic and Blaze, who both had no idea what terrifying new horrors this monstrosity was able to bring upon them.

**Ugh, writers block is just so kick-ass STUPID sometimes. So, if you can guess from the previous sentence, I am still having trouble getting ideas from my head out onto the computer, but I'm still trying hard. Please review, peeps, cause this story's gonna probably get better, with a good fight in the next chapter, possible romance (but not promised, OK?) and some other real good tidbits. I have no freaking clue when I'll be able to update next cause of the writers block and all that crap, but I'll try soon…but school and everything might slow me down. But I'm gonna try my best, and you guys who've reviewed me, thanks! Please continue to read my story, you guys are all awesomeness! ^^**


	14. The Unimaginable Power of E65

_Yeah, another fight scene is on the way! I felt that it was nice to break up the boring stuff, so here it is, another kick-ass fight with some very interesting twists and turns happening in it. OK, well, enough of my mindless babbling, onto the freaking fight, for crying out loud!_

Chapter 14

The move was so fast that Sonic and Blaze almost didn't see it coming; they were only able to run out of the line of the attack just in time, just a second before the hand crushed the very spot of ground where they had just been standing a moment before.

The robot, E-65, wasn't waiting for them to regain their composure. Instantly, it swung its hand in their direction the instant that it pulled its fist out of the ground as it brought up chunks of grass and dirt, leaving a huge hole where it had just gone through the earth. Sonic and Blaze both dashed out of the way barely a second before the hand would have made contact with them.

"What the hell _is_ that?" Sonic growled, narrowing his eyes. This robot, unlike the others, seemed to truly be able to _think_, to calculate its moves exactly and to prepare for their motives. Maybe it was the umbrae that were doing it…

Sonic and Blaze dashed in opposite directions to dodge the sudden laser beam that came out from the cannon that made up the robot's other hand, and they were separated by a red beam of energy that soon cut off when it had no effect on them.

"Split up. We'll be able to confuse it," Sonic muttered under his breath. Blaze gave him a small, quick nod in reply, showing that she had heard his barely audible words.

Another laser was fired at them; Sonic and Blaze dashed in opposing directions once more.

In their safe little pods, Eggman and Eggman Nega were cackling madly with glee; both Sonic and Blaze vaguely wondered what the mad scientists thought as funny, because they seemed to crack themselves up quite a bit. But they weren't able to continue wondering when rapid gunfire suddenly began to go towards Sonic as the hand lunged towards Blaze, reaching out to grab her with its stubby fingers.

_Heh, guess that Eggie will never be able to make robots as fast as me,_ Sonic thought, his cocky smirk on his face as he dashed out of the way of the gunfire once more.

Blaze simply jumped out of the way of the hand as it lunged for her again and again easily, bringing up a few flames wherever she left the ground as they propelled her slightly upwards.

Their strategy to split up and confuse it seemed to be working; E-65 seemed overwhelmed slightly by the fact that its enemies were dashing in two opposite directions, and the fact that it was not able to reach either of the two.

"E-sixty-five, stop holding back!" Eggman yelled.

Suddenly, the robots glowing red eyes trained on the megalomaniac scientists, and the smoke that gave it the strange, mirage-type look began to dissolve from the top of it, and the horrible, white eyes of the umbrae formed. There were three of the shadow-beings' heads being visible, coming off from the top of the robot's shoulders.

"You do not order us around," they said, in that horrible, raspy whisper of theirs, and the Eggmen suddenly were filled with icy, cold fear; the umbrae were working their special ability to make those whom they chose feel horrible fear without those whom they were inflicting it on knowing why.

"But…but why won't you attack them with your full power?" Eggman Nega asked.

"Patience…good things come to those who wait," the umbrae hissed, and then they dissolved into the robot once again.

Eggman rolled his eyes at his counterpart. "I truly don't understand his theory," he muttered.

"Neither do I; but we made a pact, and if we break it, the consequences will probably be catastrophic for us," Eggman Nega said.

While this was happening, Sonic and Blaze had noticed that the robot had stopped attacking for a little while, and they began to get suspicious. They weren't looking towards the Eggmen while they were having the conversation with the umbrae; they had been to busy running from attacks that they were worried about that the robot would aim for them. When they realized that it wasn't attacking them, they both stopped at the same time, realizing that there was something amiss in this situation.

"Is that it?" Sonic muttered, not allowing his hope to get the better of him as he stood on his guard, but slightly releasing it. "Guess that new robot of yours isn't so big and bad after all!"

"Oh, Sonic…" Eggman sighed, shaking his head. "You will never truly understand the stratagems of superior combat."

Sonic rolled his eyes, annoyed that the Eggmen always seemed to somehow put lots of big, sciency words in their sentences—on purpose. True, Tails sometimes lost himself and used real big words that Sonic himself wasn't able to understand fully, but he did it on accident, forgetting that there were dumber people in the room with him. The Eggmen, well, they did it on purpose to get others annoyed, and it was working now on Sonic.

In truth, it got old.

"Whoa!" Sonic and Blaze both gasped, and just barely dashed out of the way of another laser beam headed straight for them, nearly singing the fur on their bodies as it separated them.

The Eggmen cackled madly with glee, quite satisfied to see that their archenemies were now scurrying for their lives as the robot suddenly began to relentlessly attack both of them, shooting now at Blaze and lunging for Sonic. But, this time, it was going much faster than it had been before, and it was much harder to dodge the attacks this time.

"Looks like The Darkness actually knew what it was doing," Eggman mumbled.

"True," Eggman Nega agreed.

Blaze took in a sharp breath as a gunshot grazed her back, and she hissed irritably at the sharp sting.

_Guess I underestimated that thing,_ she thought as the next line of fire came rapidly. She ran out of the way, ducking as gunfire went dangerously close to her head as the energy beams landed on a few stray trees.

Sonic expertly dodged the swinging hand of the robot as the fingers reached for him, only to clasp at air. The robot let out a horrible sound that could only be described as a shrilling roar and continued to lunge fiercely.

"That all you got, buddy?" Sonic taunted, sticking his tongue out. "Nyah nyah!" he went on, very immaturely, and then yelled, "Oh, crap!" as the robot lunged once more, getting dangerously close to him.

And, suddenly, Sonic froze.

He didn't know why, but, suddenly, he was unable to move, as if his whole body had suddenly been encased in wet concrete that had dried a second after it was put on him. He couldn't move, frozen in mid-run, unable to speak, unable to even _blink_. Even though his mind screamed to his muscles to move out of the way of the incoming hand, he found that he was powerless to do so, suddenly immobilized, as if ice had suddenly run through his veins and frozen him from the inside out and was preventing him from moving at all.

_Move, damn it, move!_ Sonic thought furiously to himself, but his body would not obey him. The only thing he could do was watch with his unblinking eyes as the hand suddenly came down on him, crushing him into the earth.

Blaze had seen it all, known that something was wrong, tried to reach him, but the gunfire prevented her from going to him. When the hand crashed down into the ground, her eyes were wide with horror as the Eggman cackled with glee. Honestly, during battle, cackling seemed like the _only_ thing that they ever did besides calling for revenge when they were beaten once more.

E-65 continued to crush Sonic's body into the ground, relentless. Blaze tried to reach him, but from the gun came a small orb of red energy aimed at her that suddenly made a box around her, which seemed to form a barrier around her as she helplessly watched him be pulverized.

"Stop it!" Blaze hissed, erupting in flames. But the strange red shield that was forcing her to stay in its confines was not giving way to her fiery anger; she continued to try to burn her way through this, but she eventually realized that it was fruitless.

When E-65 removed its hand from the Earth, Sonic was barely breathing, still frozen in that strange paralysis that suddenly had overcome him. His body was brushed and bloody, and he still couldn't move, couldn't make a sound. E-65 drove its fist into Sonic's body again, making yet another crater in the ground as it crushed down on the blue hedgehog.

She couldn't just stand by and watch him get hurt like this. Blaze ran into the strange laser walls that were her temporary prison, but the only thing that she got was a horrible shock that jarred her body, making her feel like icy fire was running through her veins. Her eyes rolled back in her head as she clenched her teeth to stop herself from screaming, jumping off from the electrocution of the barrier, still strapped. All around, she was trapped, seeing everything in a sheen of red as she was boxed in by the energy.

"HAAAAAHAHAHAHAHA!" the Eggmen cackled with glee in unison.

"That's what you get for underestimating!" Eggman Nega said, and they both began to cackle once more.

_So that must have been their plan,_ Blaze said to herself in her mind, her thoughts coming quickly. _The umbrae were smart, making us think that there was nothing else really different except that it was going fast. But it somehow made Sonic paralyzed, and somehow has made this shield around me, and it was holding all of this back so that it could catch us off guard. And it worked._

Sonic was still frozen, his mind screaming even more to run, the pain from his broken body making him struggle. But he was still helpless, trapped in the paralysis that made him unable to move, unable to shout something, and unable to glare at the robot in one last attempt to show that he was still struggling.

E-65 punched him into the ground once more, making the crater deeper. Blaze realized that it didn't even need to hold the gun in her direction anymore, that the shield was somehow staying in place without the gun being there. The robot picked Sonic's unmoving body up, only to throw it into the air and to ram it into the earth once again as it was coming down. It did it again, this time punching with even more force.

It punched Sonic again.

And again.

And again.

Suddenly, a snarl ripped through Blaze's bared teeth, and she felt her anger rising to the surface, threatening to break through. Her true anger, her pure rage, was making its appearance.

With a roar—the only thing that could describe the sound that came from Blaze's throat—she burst into a million flames, white-hot and burning, making the area around her suddenly undulate with the heat, efficiently raising the temperature of the area up to well over one hundred degrees Fahrenheit. The extremely hot flames that were erupting from her body, licking around her eagerly, searching for something to scorch like tendrils of wispy fingers. The strange energy shield that was holding her in place seemed to vibrate from the heat, and, suddenly, it exploded, leaving her free.

Instantly, Blaze ran over to Sonic, running into the robot at full speed as she aimed her flames at it with a snarl. The white hot flames made the robot screech with agony as it stumbled backwards, and Blaze instantly knelt towards Sonic's unmoving body. He was even worse now, with more blood oozing from the scrapes and cuts that E-65 had given him, topped with the black bruises that were forming all over him.

To her relief, he began to cough and wince. Whatever thing that had made him unable to move before was gone, whatever the umbrae had done to him had worn off, finally.

Sonic struggled to get up, instantly collapsing from the effort. "Man, that thing sure did a number on me, huh?" he groaned, but he tried to plaster a false grin on his face to hide the pain.

Blaze wasn't buying it. She gave him a look with her golden eyes that said 'Please, don't give me all that crap about how you're all right, because I won't ever buy it in my life, and that was one of the most fail attempts that I've ever seen at trying to convince me that you're all right.'

"This thing really does have some pretty good tricks up its sleeve," Blaze admitted, getting her white-hot flames ready at her hands. Her anger at what the robot had done to Sonic was not completely gone, and her anger fueled her flames, making them hotter, more destructive.

"If the umbrae can make one of the Eggmen's robots do something like that…then what can The Darkness do itself?" Sonic asked aloud, not even expecting an answer.

_I can do far worse than that, you pestering rodent,_ the horrible voice suddenly growled in Sonic's head. The acidic pain suddenly seemed to replace his mind as he clutched his skull, trying to keep whatever was left of his brains inside of his head. _Now do you begin to finally see how futile it is to try and stand up against me?_

_No, I don't, and one thing you're gotta learn about me is that I can be a real slow learner at times,_ Sonic shot back. This snappy reply made even more pain erupt in his body.

_Don't be smart with me,_ The Darkness hissed.

_You want me to be dumb?_

Sonic couldn't stop the strangled cry from escaping his throat as more blinding pain flashed behind his eyes.

_And you, princess,_ _don't underestimate what I can do, _The Darkness said, suddenly leaving Sonic's mind and sounding in Blaze's own. The horrible pain erupted behind her own eyes as she held back a scream. The Darkness seemed to have given up on torturing her, so she had almost forgotten that The Darkness was still able to access her mind whenever it wanted to. The voice was heard in both of their heads at the same time when it spoke the next words:

_Don't think that this battle is over yet. In fact, it's just started to _truly _begin._

And with that, it left their minds as quickly as it came.

And that was also when the horrible screeching roar was heard not too far from where Sonic and Blaze were.

Sonic shot up, wincing, and they both whipped around at the same exact time towards the noise. And what they saw there made them gasp, unable to retain their surprise.

They remembered the robot was big.

But not _this_ big.

E-65 suddenly seemed three times its original size now, everything seeming more lethal as it blocked out the sunlight, so large that the area where Sonic and Blaze were in had suddenly become shrouded in shadow, in darkness. It was almost impossible, clearly unimaginable, that something could be that huge when it was so small before.

All that Sonic was able to say was, "Oh, crap," before the hand tried to crush them both. They dashed out of the way, escaping by the skin of their teeth from that situation, each barely a centimeter away from the huge hand which had made the largest crater they'd seen yet in the soil.

Sonic was only able to mouth a curse word in shock, his throat unable to form the sounds to make the words audible, but the robot pulled out its hand quickly and tried to crush them once more.

This…this _thing_, this _monster_, was much, much, _much_ more intimidating than it had been moments before. The threats that it had implied before had been tripled in intimidation, which made both the hedgehog and cat wonder what else The Darkness was capable of.

"Hohohohoho!" Eggman cackled with glee, sounding like an evil, crazed, drunk Santa Claus.

"Haahaha!" Eggman Nega cackled along with his counterpart, sounding like an evil, crazed, drunk hyena.

Sonic and Blaze were dodging, dodging for their lives as E-65 kept on trying to crush them with its huge hand. Wherever its fist met the soil, a huge crater was made once more as dust came up in large plumes, seeming like small, dirty clouds. And the gunfire suddenly became quickly more accurate, hitting Sonic and Blaze every now and then as they tried to evade the attacks, but, seemingly, with no avail.

_We…are…SCREWED!_ Sonic thought furiously as another energy beam from the gun made contact. _How the hell did that thing get so freaking ACCURATE all of a sudden?_

Blaze cursed in her mind as yet another round of the energy beams seared through her skin. _How did it suddenly…suddenly become so much stronger after I just hit it? What in the world is going on?_

The robot was angrily making trees fall, creating more craters, simply crushing huge boulders on the impact of its strong, metal fist, nearly leveling the forest near the area. It seemed to be reconstructing the whole place; what used to be a small clearing surrounded by deciduous trees whose green leaves were swaying gently in the wind was now replaced by a nearly flat area of land with no grass, quite a few holes, and much less trees than there had originally been, before the whole battle had begun.

Suddenly, that thing happened again, that thing where Sonic suddenly froze in his tracks and became unable to move. Except it happened to both Sonic and Blaze this time; they both suddenly became paralyzed, their eyes wide, frozen in their stances of running away.

"Now do you see how futile it is to fight against The Darkness?" the umbrae hissed as they appeared, coming of in wisps of smoke from E-65, their horrible white eyes that were devoid of irises locking onto Sonic and Blaze.

Sonic and Blaze were silent—they weren't able to move a single muscle in their body that they had conscious control of. Their minds were both screaming to their bodies to run, to get out of the way, but they were unable to maneuver away from the monstrosity.

The thing grabbed Sonic in its fist, and then it began to crush. Squeezing Sonic harder and harder, E-65 stared at Sonic with its emotionless glowing red eyes as it continued to suffocate him.

Suddenly, something cracked, and Sonic was able to move again. And his first act once he had control of his body once more was to yell out in pain as his lungs compressed, knowing that something probably broke, and he wasn't able to breathe.

_No!_ Blaze thought furiously, but she couldn't move.

Sonic's cries of agony became louder and louder as the robot continued to compress the blue hedgehog in its large fist. And suddenly, whatever had made Blaze paralyzed suddenly stopped, and she was instantly able to move again.

"_DON'T YOU TOUCH HIM!"_ she snarled with fury, her white-hot flames suddenly shooting out from her palms in her rage. The burning fire continued, a never-ending line of pure, searing heat, as the air around the fire undulated and the temperature rose steeply again. She was careful to aim her attack towards the body of the robot, not wanting Sonic to get hurt, and E-65 dropped Sonic as it batted away the flames, backing up.

Blaze let out another snarl as she put even more of her anger into the attack; the temperature was surely higher than 200 degrees Fahrenheit, easily, and the air around the fire seemed to be a mirage—that's how much it waved from the heat. The flames became whiter and hotter and were eagerly reaching out for anything else to destroy.

E-65 made a strange shrilling noise that they could only define as a robot's scream as it continued to try and stop the flames.

_Seems that it isn't fireproof,_ Blaze thought, smirking a bit with her satisfaction.

The robot continued to make those terrible sounds as her flames from her anger continued to pour on it. This only encouraged Blaze to continue to burn the robot relentlessly, wanting to make sure that it paid for the pain it caused Sonic.

Finally, when she was sure that the thing should have been reduced to a pile of molten metal and non-functional parts, she pulled back. She had probably been attack it for five whole minutes relentlessly with the fire, and she was feeling slightly drained. There were plumes of great, dark smoke, and Blaze thought, _That should at least hurt it a little bit._

She ran over to Sonic, who was trying to get up, wincing as his body wouldn't allow him to move. He was even worse now, his quills matted and clumped with dirt and his own dried blood as he coughed out a small bit of blood from his mouth. Slightly disgusted at himself, he wiped his mouth with his gloved hand, trying to clean himself at least a _little_ bit.

As the smoke cleared, the robot was simply standing there, as if nothing had happened to it at all.

"What the…" Blaze gasped. "What the hell _is_ that?"

If anything, E-65 seemed pissed off. Its emotionless red eyes were locked on Sonic and Blaze, and the voice of the umbrae spoke.

"You seem to finally understand…how we are indestructible…" they groaned, their voices hoarse whispers.

"Why don't you just shut up?" Sonic muttered. "'Cause from my experience, when bad guys are scared, they start talking all this crap so that _we_ get scared, which seems to be what you're doing." He said this with his usual cocky smirk on his face as he rubbed his nose.

_I guess the one thing about Sonic is that he'll never lose his attitude,_ Blaze thought with relief. At least one thing would always remain the same in all their battles together.

"You dare…you dare mock us…?" the umbrae hissed, seeming enraged. "Well…we'll just have to wipe that cocky smirk off your face!"

The robot lunged for them once more, but they were ready, dodging out of the way as quickly as they could. Both of them were sweating, and it wasn't from having to go so fast, it was because of the fear of what this monstrosity could do. Obviously, E-65 had the upper hand, and it was only Sonic and Blaze against this huge robot. The odds were against them.

Every time Sonic tried to power up for a traditional Spin Attack, he would have to dodge out of the way from either the robot's gunfire or avoid being crushed by its fist. And every time Blaze tried to get enough flames at her hands to cause some damage, she had to dodge, too. When they even tried to combat it with plain punches and kicks, it ignored them like they were simply pestering gnats.

It seemed that nothing they could do would be able to stop the thing.

"All right, E-sixty-five, I think that's enough," Dr. Eggman finally said. "I think that they've learned their lesson."

There were suddenly roars coming from the robot as it turned around to face the Eggmen with its glowing red eyes, giving Sonic and Blaze a small chance to take a breather.

"You OK?" Sonic panted.

"Been better," was Blaze's reply as she hissed when her fingers made contact with an open wound from the gunfire.

"_You do not order us around!"_ the umbrae suddenly hissed to the Eggmen. _"Do you forget that without us, your robot would be nothing at all against your enemies? If you try to order us again, we will SLAUGHTER YOU, and The Darkness WILL ALLOW IT!"_

Eggman and Eggman Nega were trembling with fear as the umbrae struck their hearts with it. The wisps of gray smoke were coming off from it even faster now as the umbrae finally appeared, showing their horrid eyes and looking straight at the Eggmen.

"_Unless you have a death wish…you will LEAVE THIS TO US!"_

The Eggmen weren't able to reply, frozen with the thing's paralysis that it did. The robot then turned around to face Sonic and Blaze again, who were trying to regain their strength slowly by taking deep breaths.

"Oh crap," Sonic said again when they had to dodge yet another attack from the robot.

The attacks were getting quicker and quicker, while Sonic and Blaze's dodges were getting slower and slower from their exhaustion. They had both been hurt by the robot, but they weren't giving up.

_This thing's _gotta_ have a weakness,_ Sonic thought as he continued to dodge. _Rrrrgh, but what the hell IS it?_

"You two…you two will _die_!" the umbrae hissed, lunging for them once more.

Blaze let out a gasp as more gunfire sliced through her skin and the blood began to well out of the wound. Sonic took in a sharp breath as the small and deadly energy beams seared his own skin as well.

"_We'll kill you if it's the last thing we do!"_ the umbrae roared, and the robot was now lunging blindly around and around, destroying everything in sight. The landscape was utterly decimated now, reduced to nothing more than a dusty clearing with craters and the stumps of trees ripped from the monstrous robot's punches.

In an instant, Sonic and Blaze were frozen once more. The thing seems to like to freeze them so that its job got easier.

_The coward,_ Blaze thought furiously as she struggled to move, but it was useless.

"Let's see, who shall we kill first?" the umbrae teased, their voices harsh.

The Eggmen were frozen as well, so they weren't able to stop the robot from finishing them off. And if they tried, they had a feeling that _they_ would be the ones the umbrae would kill instead.

The robot lunged and grabbed Blaze's frozen form within its fat, stubby, metal fingers as it threw out that strange red energy ball from its cannon and fired it at Sonic, making a cage around him. The energy boxed him in all over, even under his feet, and he was trapped in this prison.

The thing stopped the paralysis, wanting to hear the cries of pain, their last words.

The moment that it stopped, Blaze screamed in pain as the fingers crushed her. It was as if her lungs had suddenly been taken out as the crushing weight suddenly squeezed her body.

"Blaze!" Sonic yelled, ramming into the energy wall, only getting that horrible electrocution as he yelled in surprise and pain and jumped back. E-65 continued to relentlessly crush Blaze in its large hand, squeezing the life out of her. Her golden eyes, fierce and full of a spark that they always seemed to somehow possess, were not fading away as the light began to drain out of them, rolling back into her head as she shrieked once more. And all Sonic was able to think about were the times that he heard her scream before, all those times that the umbrae and penumbrae had made her feel such pain that her voice was barely a strangled cry. The screams were resonating in his ears…

She fell silent, falling limp as everything turned black.

"_Blaze!"_ Sonic shouted. As if her being passed out wasn't enough, E-65 continued to crush her, as if it wanted to grind her to dust and make her fade away into nonexistence.

"_Stop it! You MONSTER!"_ Sonic snarled, feeling his anger rise.

E-65 dropped Blaze, only to pound its fist on her fallen body. Each time it punched her, another snarl escaped from Sonic's throat. The robot didn't even seem to care if Blaze was a girl; it continued to pound away.

Sonic heard her moan, and when it punched her again, she began to scream once more. Once more, the pain, the horrible pain hit her, over and over and over and over…she began to spew out blood from her mouth as she choked on it, on the blood that should have been inside of her body.

She faded back to unconsciousness so quickly, because she was so weak.

"_S…STOP IT!"_ Sonic roared, his anger making him throw his head back uncontrollably as feral noises came from his throat. He began to lose all sense of reason as he felt himself transforming, felt that familiar coldness come over him as he began to transform, his anger in physical form…

Blaze's screams resonated in his ears, and he remembered when The Darkness had hurt her, causing her to wince, to bite her lip to keep herself from crying out in the horrible agony that she was going through. All that Sonic was able to say in his mind was _Not her, not her, not her…_

And the second thing that he was able to think was, _I'LL MURDER THAT PIECE OF CRAP!"_

With another roar, Sonic's transformation was complete, as Dark Sonic made his appearance once more.

"Oooh, the umbrae got him real mad," Eggman Nega muttered to his counterpart.

"I haven't seen Sonic _this_ angry since the last time that we tried to destroy him with that other robot," Eggman Nega agreed.

Dark Sonic was silent, glaring at E-65 with his white eyes, devoid of irises, as the dark aura around him intensified with his anger. More feral growls and snarls ripped through his teeth as he snarled, the dark energy breaking the red barrier or energy around him, shattering it like a million red glass fragments.

And Dark Sonic growled only one thing, but that one thing struck fear into the hearts of the umbrae and the Eggmen.

"_**I'LL…I'LL KILL YOU!"**_ Dark Sonic roared, his voice threatening, almost like the growl of a wild animal. _**"I'LL TAKE THE PAIN YOU CAUSUED BLAZE AND RETURN IT A THOUSAND-FOLD!"**_

And, just like that, Dark Sonic was on top of the robot, raining down Dark energy blasts at the monstrosity.

E-65 was backing up, nervous, trying to block Dark Sonic's attacks. Each attempt simply made the hedgehog angrier, and he let out more snarls as he continued to relentlessly pummel the robot.

"Stop, you inferior living creature!" the umbrae hissed, truly afraid.

This only encouraged Dark Sonic to continue to throw dark beams of energy at the thing, not able to truly think, his mind simply a red haze of fury and rage and his hatred for his enemies which had caused him and Blaze so much harm.

Dark Sonic jumped back, extended his palms, and shot out an endless beam of dark energy at the robot, only for a few seconds though. The robot was screaming while Sonic did this, then stopped when the energy stopped, and it looked for him, turning this way and that.

Suddenly, another energy blast hit the robot, then another in a different direction.

"What!" the umbrae growled.

They saw Dark Sonic for the briefest of instants, and then he simply blinked away as another energy blast hit the robot from behind. It was getting confused and annoyed as it let out a roar.

This only made Dark Sonic smirk.

The umbrae tried to make Sonic paralyzed, but it wasn't working. Dark Sonic's mind was somehow inaccessible now as he continued his plan; strike with a beam of energy, dash out of the way before the robot saw him, and make it pay for what it did to Blaze.

"Die, die, _die_!" the umbrae screeched, panicked, as they tried to make the robot block Dark Sonic.

But it wasn't working.

Every shot that Dark Sonic took at E-65 hit its mark. The robot was confused, smoking up in some places from the angry hedgehog's fierce attacks from his anger and fury. More angry roars were coming from it as the umbrae screamed, wondering where this power was coming from.

Dark Sonic was angrier than he had been before, if possible. Seeing Blaze hurt that much, seeing her paralyzed by whatever special thing they did to her, and hearing her screams once more, over and over and over again, helpless to save her…it had been something that made his rage come through, and whoever wakes up Sonic's rage is in big trouble.

Lightning fast punches and kicks, so fast that the robot wasn't able to block all of them, were being rained down upon it as Dark Sonic continued to fight against E-65 with a lust for vengeance. He needed to make sure that the robot felt Blaze's pain, feel it multiplied by a thousand.

When the robot was weakened enough, Dark Sonic stopped attacking it, only to stand right in front of the robot, glaring at it with hatred with his pure white eyes that were completely devoid of his emerald green irises. He extended both of his palms out towards the robot, and let out a growl as his dark aura suddenly flared around him.

"What's he doing…?" Eggman Nega mumbled.

"I've no idea…" Eggman answered.

Dark Sonic took in deep breaths, concentrating the dark energy around his palms, as it began to condense like a strange ball of darkness surrounding his outstretched hands. It crackled in his hands as he pulled his arms back, getting it ready as he continued to concentrate the darkness around his hands. It was time to finish this, and finish it quickly.

His rage flared again suddenly as he heard Blaze give out a low moan, probably drifting in and out of consciousness, being dragged under the current of the swarming waters of unconsciousness, resurfacing for a few seconds only to be dragged under once again.

With another roar of pure rage, Dark Sonic shot out a large beam of dark energy that consumed the whole area around E-65. The robot was letting out shrilling shrieks and screams, but Dark Sonic continued to relentlessly pour on the energy into the attack, making another short burst of darkness come from his palms and travel towards the robot.

His mind was blank, every sense of reason gone from him, except for one thing, one single coherent thought that made it through his mind.

_Destroy this thing…until there's nothing left._

The robot continue to shrilly scream, but it was getting weaker and weaker as the darkness intensified around it, and Dark Sonic continued to relentlessly attack it with the beam of energy.

"_NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"_ the umbrae screamed, but their voices were already fading away.

And, finally, the robot exploded in a flash of brilliant white light. The pieces of the broken, exploded robot were quickly disintegrated by Dark Sonic's dark energy around it, leaving nothing left.

The umbrae flew out, shrilling and screaming, their shadowy bodies writhing in pain, slowly disintegrating like fog does when the sun comes out. And the last thing that was heard was their screams as they faded away, until there was no noise left but the wind whooshing across the area.

Dark Sonic was panting, and his midnight-blue fur faded back to cobalt, his spikes turning down, the darkness disappearing from around him, and his emerald green irises returning. His wounds were still there; he was all black-and-blued and bloody from the umbrae. A new stream of blood had begun to come out of his mouth and was trickling down his chin, and he could barely see anything in front of him. His vision was fuzzy, fading away.

He staggered over to Blaze, saw with relief that she was still breathing, and then, suddenly, let out an exhausted sound and dropped down, knocked out, as he collapsed near her own passed out body.

At this, the Eggmen flew away in their little pods, afraid of what was going to happen next.

There was finally quiet in the battle arena. The landscape had undergone miraculous change; it was nearly simply a flat dust ball now. The boulders and trees which had surrounded the originally small clearing were all gone, replaced with broken stumps and shattered fragments of rocks. The green grass was all torn up and the ground wasn't green any more with it; it was replaced with the horrible tan color of dust. It was hard to believe how pretty the area had been before, before the battle with E-65 had taken place. It was now eerily silent, the only sound the wind whooshing over the flat land.

Then, no one saw it, but a figure, cloaked in white, seeming to be made of light itself, was walking slowly towards Sonic and Blaze. The movements of this being were so graceful and otherworldly that, if someone had been there to see it, they probably would have thought it was an angel. It seemed to glide gently over the ground, never truly touching the floor as it continued to gracefully walk over to them.

The figure—you could tell that it was a slightly off-white animal that seemed to be a hedgehog, glowing with a soft white light—knelt down towards the two passed out heroes. It gently reached out its hand and touched Sonic's cheek, then Blaze's own, seeming to almost be an apparition, a ghost, someone that shouldn't be from this world.

The moment that it touched his cheek, Sonic's wounds instantly began to close up, the black-and-blues leaving his body, the bloody cuts sealing themselves up and knitting themselves together. The same thing happened to Blaze when the figure touched the lavender cat's cheek as well, her own wounds closing up as the figure drew its hand back, beginning to stand up. The wind made the flowing cloaks which it was dressed in billow slightly in the breeze, although it seemed that it shouldn't be harmed by such a simple thing as nature.

And then, it spoke.

"Thank you…for defeating him…" the person whispered—and the voice sounded fairly feminine, gentle and soft, almost like the breeze itself.

It—_she_, probably—then turned away, looking at the sky.

"I know there is still good in him…but, if he doesn't see the light soon enough, I will have no choice but to defeat him…oh, brother, why did you give in to your darker nature?" she whispered, shaking her head, closing her light, crystalline blue eyes that also shone with light like the rest of her.

"But, in the meantime, they must stand strong against him," she murmured to herself as she looked at the knocked out blue hedgehog and lilac cat. "My only hope is that they will be able to stop him…before he becomes too strong for even _me_ to be able to stop."

With another look at the two, she whispered, "Sonic, Blaze…continue to fight. I will explain everything when the time is right."

And, with that, she closed her eyes, focused, and soon, they simply blinked away as she mentally teleported them back to Tails' workshop, knowing that was where they stood.

And then, with one last look at the destroyed landscape, the figure began to walk gracefully away from the battlefield, leaving a small trail of light that seemed like stardust as she walked away, eventually disappearing through the trees like mist in the morning.

**OK, so, it was pretty rough for me these past few…I dunno, weeks? My writers block is acting up, added with another book report, crazy schedules and other things like that…and also a slight obsession with Dragon Ball Z…I've kinda been reading the comics in my free time whenever I can because I think they're so awesome! But anyway, hope this chapter wasn't a disappointment, hope it was worth the wait, sorry, no romance, but there will be some in the next chapter or two, and I'll probably be ending it soon, only to start a new one! A sequel, yay! If any of you have any suggestions for me, let me know!**

**Thanks, peeps! Your reviews have been helping me out, thanks so much! You all are total awesomeness! ^^**


	15. A Savior

_I am SO sorry for my absolute lateness. But I have my reasons, so please just bear with me. First of all, I didn't have a lot of time to get on the computer as of late, and it also didn't help that writer's block has been hitting me in HUMUNGOUS doses as well. Besides the writers block and hard time getting to a computer, there's also been some things happening in the family that's taken a hell of a lot of my time and stuff, we're kinda going through a stressed time. And finally, and this is the main reason, but something weird happened to the internet on my computer and it didn't let me go online for a while, saying some shit that I didn't bother to read but didn't let me go online, so I just left my computer alone for about a month and hoped that it would eventually pass, and it did! And here's the next long awaited chapter! Hope it doesn't disappoint! :)_

Chapter 15

The first reaction was Amy's scream when Sonic and Blaze's passed out forms suddenly appeared out of nowhere in the middle of Tails' workshop as the others had all been idly wondering what was taking the two so long. The next to react was Lance, who jumped nearly thirty feet in the air in surprise, followed by Aria and Rose's gasps of surprise, Tails' look of shock, Shadow's eyes widening (that guy tried never to show anything, honestly) and Knuckles and Rouge—who had just arrived—backing up a few steps.

Their wordless shock seemed to actually be heard in the air, and would be represented by something like this:

"!"

There was stunned silence as they simply looked at the cobalt blue hedgehog and lilac cat, who had landed perfectly on a table, and they all were frozen with shock at what had just happened, simply looking at the two.

The one who truly broke the silence was Lance.

"…Scary," was all he got out, and, suddenly, all the questions poured out of the others, the questions that they hadn't dared vocalize before but suddenly had the courage to now after Lance said that.

"What the hell _happened_ to them?"

"How did they get here?"

"Not here one second, here the next second after blinking into existence…how is this possible?"

"What were they doing?"

"Why are they passed out?"

"Where did they come from?"

"What the heck is _happening_ here!"

The questions were overlapping each other, not able to be made out as nothing but gibberish by the rest of them as they all spoke their sudden, startled questions at once.

"Hey, look! They moved!" Tails suddenly exclaimed, and that one sentence was one everyone heard as they all turned their direction to Sonic and Blaze's bodies on the table, and they noticed that they were twitching.

With a groan, Sonic's eyes opened, and he blinked for a few seconds before shooting up in surprise, realizing that he was no longer at the destroyed forest but at Tails' familiar workshop. And then he let out a gasp as he realized that he felt no pain; he looked around him for any bruises or cuts or slashes from what the robot monster controlled by the umbrae did to him, but there was nothing.

Blaze returned to the realm of consciousness, too, letting out a soft moan as her eyes fluttered open. She then instantly shot up, just like Sonic had, when she realized that she wasn't in the battlefield anymore, that she was in the young twin-tailed fox's workshop. Looking around her in surprise, she then realized that the pain from all the wounds from the battle with E-67 were gone, and she turned side to side to see if there were any signs that she had been in a battle, but there was nothing anywhere.

Both Sonic and Blaze turned at the same time to meet the shocked gazes of the other eight animals who were inside of the workshop.

There was, yet again, more silence.

This silence was broken by Tails, however, simply saying, "Sonic, Blaze, what happened?"

Unlike the last time the silence was broken, no one else shouted out any questions, they all simply stood quiet until the two could reply.

After exchanging a quick glance with Blaze, Sonic told them all what had happened.

All of them were shocked now at what the umbrae were able to do. In their previous battles, they hadn't been able to paralyze their enemies, and they also hadn't been able to produce an energy field around its opponent strong enough to actually trap him inside. Was it because the umbrae were working through something that they were able to get so powerful, or was it just that The Darkness was getting more powerful by the hour, the minute, the second?

"The next thing that I know," Sonic finished, "we suddenly wake up here after passing out in the clearing."

"You guys weren't here for one second, and then here the next," Aria whispered, having trouble believing what had happened. "How were you able to get transported here?"

"I have no freaking clue," Sonic replied, grinning. "Let's just accept it and hope that whatever did this is on our side."

"If you were in a battle, then how are there no wounds to show for it?" Shadow asked, slightly suspicious of this strange setup.

"We don't know," Blaze answered, looking at the ebony hedgehog. "There isn't even a black-and-blue on us."

"Probably the same thing that transported you here also healed you," Rose suggested quietly, looking at the floor shyly.

"Yeah, you're probably right," Sonic said, his playful, trademark grin still plastered on his face.

"If The Darkness can do all this already…then what can it do when it's at full power?" Lance asked worriedly, already taking a protective stance in front of Amy at the thoughts of what the monstrosity could do.

"I don't know," Sonic said gravely, and everyone knew to listen to his words when he was like this. He very rarely took anything seriously, but when he did, it must mean that something was big, and that they needed to listen. "Let's just hope that it can't get too much stronger, or else we're going to be really screwed. Blaze and I barely escaped that battle alive."

"But there are ten of us, Sonic!" Tails exclaimed joyfully.

"Ten? Who said we _all_ are going to be fighting?" Rouge asked, looking at Tails, one of her thin eyebrows raised in question.

"What…you mean you aren't helping?" Rose said timidly.

"Sorry, sweetie, but if there's no jewels involved, I really don't like to get mixed up in skirmishes like this," Rouge answered airily. "I have something that I like to do called 'staying out of trouble as much as possible.'"

"But we need all the people we can get!" Amy objected, glaring at Rouge's turquoise eyes with her own green ones. "Just think, Rouge, if The Darkness destroys our planet, then there wont _be_ any jewels for you to keep! There won't even be a _planet_ left for you to stay on!"

"That stupid bat's just a coward," Knuckles smirked, crossing his hands over his chest.

That made Rouge _really_ fired up, and she whipped around to meet Knuckles' violet eyes, glaring at him with such intensity that the others could've sworn that her eyes had suddenly burst into flames.

"Fine! I'll fight, just to make sure that I can get my hands on some good jewels later," she answered fiercely, stomping her foot in agitation and turning away from the red echidna with an attitude aimed towards him, "and to prove to mister big-shot over here that I'm _not_ a coward! Happy now?"

"Very," Knuckles snickered, shaking his head at the perfect timing of this. That wretched white bat always took whatever time she could to push his buttons—it was only fair that he returned the favor.

"Great—so we're all in this together," Sonic announced with yet another one of his trademark grins, and the seriousness of the moment seemed to diminish with the familiar expression on his face, and they all felt that everything would soon be all right.

They couldn't've been more wrong.

**THE NEXT DAY…**

Screams and shrieks of fear erupted all around as the people, frantically, looked for a way to escape from this…this monster, this monster that was somehow creating these monstrous, abnormally large storms. Rain pounded away in sheets as hail, ranging from the size of a bullet to as big as a small car, crashed down from the heavens. The winds picked up and swirled around and around so fast that the trees were being uprooted and easily being pulled into the vortex of the tornado and the hurricane that were somehow attacking the city at the same time. Thunder crashed as lightning fell in blinding, jagged streaks of light from the sky as it seemed to tear the dark, grey sky into many little pieces. Great wildfires, too, somehow raged, burning in patches where the rain wasn't pelting down and something like burning sulfur began to rain from the sky, like hail except great rocks of fire falling from the sky, crashing into the wooden houses and burning them up, forcing the residents of the house to flee before their home was burnt to cinders and reduced to nothing but ashes.

There was no sanctuary from these horrible things inside of their houses, either. Somehow, shadows, shadows with white, angular eyes or glowing red eyes filled with hate were able to drift in through the cracks under the doors, through the windows, and just seemed to go through the walls themselves. There were shrieks of pain as the gleaming white teeth of these shadows met their skin and broke through, creating unimaginable pain as they began to hear a grating voice speak into their minds, saying horrible things. They were terrified, some because their family member was in great pain, and others for seemingly no reason at all, just suddenly being hit with a wave of cold, clammy fear that consumed them and made them terrified—and what was even more terrifying about that fact was that they had no idea _what_ they were scared of.

Many people tried desperately to run away from whatever was attacking them, but, since they had no idea _what_ was attacking them, it was all futile. People ran and hid in wherever they could find—when their houses weren't safe, they ran over downstairs to their basements, but the shadows seemed to find them wherever they went. Mothers tried to comfort their wailing infants and children, while fathers tried to be strong for their families as they soothed their wives and tried to put their children's fears at ease, but, in reality, they were just as terrified as the rest of their family was.

In the midst of all this chaos and destruction and fear, there was one thing heard, one rasping voice that came from all the shadow beings as they spoke at the same time, as if they were one mind, one voice.

"_The Darkness is coming. The Darkness is coming."_

For some reason, even though none of the people truly understood the magnitude of what the creatures were saying, they were struck with pure, unfaltering terror at that statement that the shadow-beings kept repeating, over and over and over, in a haunting chant. That seemed to be the most terrifying thing about all of these insane happenings.

A little fox girl got separated from her parents as they had run from their burning house, and she was now trapped in the building as the flames eagerly flicked around at the wood of the house. She screamed in fear as the flames licked towards her, threatening to burn her, and if she didn't burn along with the flames then the house would collapse on her anyway. She knew that she was going to die, and she was scared. She closed her eyes, screaming and crying, hoping that someone would be able to hear her as she awaited her impending death.

And then, suddenly the heat from the fire diminished and was replaced with blessed cool air coming in front outside. Startled, the girl cracked one tear-filled eye open to look at what had caused the flames to stop, what had prevented them from burning her alive, and she let out a tiny gasp.

In front of her was a beautiful lavender cat, who wore a purple cloak and white undercoat, and was shielding the little tan fox from the flames. The cat stood in front of the small fox, her hands were palm out and facing the fire, and she was _absorbing_ the flames into her being, that the flames were fanning out in slightly different directions before being absorbed into the lavender cat's palms. The fox's savior's golden eyes were fierce as she absorbed the fire, and then she turned to face the fox.

"Hurry! Get out of here!" she yelled to the fox, absorbing more of the flames as her amber eyes flicked around the room, lit by the flames as more fire continued to burn the house. "The house is falling down! Go!"

The little fox wasted no time in scampering out of the room, flashing the lavender cat a grateful look before she dashed out of the crumbling building. The lavender cat quickly followed suit behind her, looking back at the house before it fell to the ground. She grabbed the fox and shielded her from the aftermath and shock of the falling of the building, shielding her from the sudden impact of wind and rubble.

The fox looked up at the lavender cat with wide violet eyes. "Thank you," she whispered, her voice hoarse from all the screaming and from the tears she had shed before as she had thought that her life was over.

"It's nothing," Blaze answered as she stood up, looking at the girl. "Where are your parents?"

"I…I don't know," the fox whimpered.

"I'll help you find them," Blaze offered, and motioned for the little fox to get on her back. The little girl wrapped her arms around Blaze's neck and held on tightly as she began to search for the little girl's family based on her descriptions.

Meanwhile, an elderly wolf and his young grandson were cornered, backed up against a wall as some shadow beings advanced on them, the ones with the glowing white eyes as their white teeth flashed in their mouths somehow. The young boy clung to his grandfather, trying to hide in his yellow fur as the elderly wolf tried to shield the younger one from harm's way.

"Close your eyes!" someone suddenly called, and both of them, shocked, did just as the voice has instructed them. Then, they were met with the sound of someone else, someone with a slightly deeper voice, shouting, _"CHAOS SPEAR!"_ That was then followed by inhuman shrieks of pain.

Then, both the wolves were swept off of their feet as someone carried them. Daring to open their eyes, they saw that a blue hedgehog was the one who had saved them. The blue hedgehog's emerald green eyes were worried, but assured as he set the two down safely. Following behind him at the same amazing speed that the blue hedgehog was traveling at was a black hedgehog with red streaks in his quills and white chest fur, and his ruby red eyes were cold as he glared around him at the devastation.

"Y-you saved us…" the grandfather rasped. "We can't ever thank you enough."

"It's nothing, just stay safe and out of the way of the storms," Sonic told them, flashing them a reassuring look before he dashed off, with Shadow following behind him as they went to look for the others.

"Help! Someone help!" a young mother rabbit screamed, clutching her infant son to her chest as she tried to run away from the shadow beings that were pursuing her relentlessly. She shrieked as she was met with a dead end, running into a stone wall that was covered with vines. She whipped around, only to see that the shadows were chasing her, and she let out another shriek of fear as she held her son tighter, anticipating her death as the tears streamed down her face.

Suddenly, she felt tendrils curl around her waist, and she screamed again once she realized that the ivy from the wall was somehow _moving_ by itself and picking her up by the waist, pulling her up just out of the shadow's reach. Then, suddenly, a silver hedgehog with blue streaks in his quills appeared and flashed out a sword and used the blade to sever the shadows in half. The things let out screeches of fury and pain as the silver hedgehog continued to slash his blade over and over again until the shadows retreated. The mother rabbit was completely traumatized, and she began to panic as the vines began to put her down gently, holding her baby to her with a death grip. Up in the sky, she saw an orange fox with two tails that he rotated like twin helicopter blades holding a cherry-red fox around her waist, and the girl had her arms extended out towards the rabbit's direction, as if she was controlling something. This made the rabbit even more hysterical as she began to hyperventilate in her fear.

"Shhh, it's all right," a soothing voice suddenly said, and the mother rabbit turned fearfully and met magenta eyes, and saw a sea-green cat in front of her who was trying to calm her down. She backed up, afraid, but then, the cat opened her mouth and began to sing a calming tune. Instantly, the mother felt her hysteria begin to fade away, leached out by the song and somehow replaced with a strange sense of calm as the lovely melody continued to pour from the cat's mouth, soothing the rabbit and also quieting down the baby in her arms.

"Go find a safe place to hide, and bring anyone you can with you," Aria said gently to the mother rabbit.

"My…my husband!" the rabbit suddenly said, her green eyes filled with fear. "He…I need to find him!"

"Rose, Tails!" Aria called up to the two foxes. "Help her look for her husband! Lance, stay with me, we'll continue to find other people," she said, and Tails quickly flew down to the ground, placing Rose on the earth so that she could look on the ground and he could look in the sky.

"Thank you so much," the mother said gratefully.

"It's our job," Rose answered as she smiled, and then she began to look for the rabbit's husband based on her description of him and the last place that she had seen him, and the mother began to follow Rose.

"Come on, Aria, I see some more people!" Lance called as he unsheathed his sword once more and charged at the enemy while Aria quickly followed behind him to help calm down the traumatized person.

During this, a green hedgehog in his early teens was running around, looking for his parents and his little sister, his brown eyes nervously darting around him in his fear, and he let out a yelp as he saw that he was being followed by the shadows. He began to run, feeling the monsters continue to chase after him as he desperately tried to escape, tears escaping from his eyes as he desperately ran. He let out a startled noise when he ran into a dead end—a cliff with a sheer drop on the other side of it. He turned around, meeting the white eyes of the shadow creatures, and he did what anyone would rationally do in his situation.

He screamed at the top of his lungs for someone to help him.

The shadows continued to advance on him, and he backed up, feeling loose rocks crumble under his weight. He gasped as he stepped forward again so that he wouldn't fall off the cliff, but the shadows continued to advance. He screamed until his throat felt sore, and no one came.

At that moment, a spiked fist came out of nowhere and made the shadows fly backwards, and that was followed suit by a red hammer smashing down on top of the monsters. Startled, the boy backed up, and then let out a scream of fright as he began to fall off the sheer face of the cliff. He extended his limbs out for anything as he tried desperately to grab at something, but all he grabbed at was air, which was useless. His screams were torn out of him unintentionally as he began to plummet to his death.

When he didn't die, he realized that arms had suddenly wrapped around him, and he looked up to see that a white bat had caught him in her arms, her turquoise eyes looking forward at the cliff that he had just slipped off.

"Oh, crap…" he mumbled under his breath, shaking his head.

"Tell me about it, kid," Rouge answered as she rolled her eyes and carried him to safety, setting him down as Knuckles punched the monsters and Amy used her hammer to swing relentlessly at them, her green eyes blazing with fury.

"Take that, you freaks!" Knuckles shouted as he drove his fist through one of the shadows, making it shriek in fury as it disintegrated.

"_That's_ for hurting Sonic and Blaze!" Amy yelled as she pounded down on the monsters, each of her swings meant for vengeance as she relentlessly beat The Darkness' henchmen.

"Please…I need to find my family," the boy pleaded with Rouge, looking at her with scared eyes. "I don't know where my parents and little sister are."

"I'll take you to 'em," Rouge said to him, before calling over, "Amy, Knuckie, I'm gonna go take this kid back to his family!"

"Good idea!" the red echidna called back as he drove his fist into the shadows once again, making the monsters fly back from the force he was exerting in his spiked fists.

Meanwhile, Blaze had managed to return the little fox girl back to her parents, and, as she was running to check to make sure that others weren't trapped by any fires, she ran into Sonic and Shadow.

"We got everyone we could in our area," Sonic told Blaze quickly, and she nodded.

"I'm pretty sure that I saved everyone from the fires," she informed the two hedgehogs.

"Hey, guys!" Lance called, followed by Aria. "I think that we got everyone covered on the south side of the city. Rose and Tails are taking a mother rabbit and her baby back to her husband, they'll be back soon!"

Once Aria caught sight of Shadow, she instantly ran to him, wrapping her arms around his neck as he returned the gesture, holding her around the waist as she nuzzled into his neck. Shadow never wanted to let her go, never wanted to stop breathing the amazing scent that came off of her fur and her skin as he held her in his arms, and she felt completely safe in his embrace.

"This is horrible, Shadow," Aria whispered as she clung tighter to him, like he was her lifeline. "It's like I'm reliving the destruction all over again."

"Shhh, my love," Shadow murmured gently for only her ears to hear. Aria felt a thrill once again when he called her that—it made her feel special. "I promise, it's going to be all right," he solemnly vowed as he looked deep into her lovely eyes.

Aria nodded, squeezing her eyes shut to prevent her tears from overflowing out of her eyes.

Knuckles and Amy ran towards the others once they caught sight of them, and Amy instantly ran into Lance's arms as he held her tight, resolving that he would never let her go again as she clung with a death grip around his neck, sobbing in fear, from the fear that she might have lost him to the monsters, that she might have lost some of her friends to The Darkness.

"I believe that we caught all the stragglers and people who strayed from the area," Knuckles informed Sonic as his eyes unconsciously scanned the skies for any signs of Rouge. "Rouge is taking a teenager back to his home, she'll be back as soon as possible."

"How could The Darkness suddenly cause so much damage in so little time?" Blaze asked, her voice full of anger and worry. The crew had all been honing their fighting skills and resting that day at Tails' workshop, when, suddenly, they saw the sky go dark and heard thunder rumble through the sky. They had all turned to see a massive storm destroying a city and coming straight for them. They had all ran to where the storm was starting, and that was when they began to save the stragglers that were unable to reach safety in time.

"This is how The Darkness begins to destroy a world," Aria whispered as she turned to meet the eyes of the rest of the group, while Shadow kept his arm wrapped firmly around her waist, refusing to let her go. "It creates monstrous storms like this—I believe that it's trying to destroy the world completely now, and wants to feed off the energy of this planet so that it can continue to destroy other worlds."

"It lies in wait for the right time, building up its energy," Lance added, holding Amy tighter to him. "It drains The Darkness after it takes over a world, so it buys its time while it waits as it absorbs the power of the planet it has just destroyed, feeding off the energy of the core, and then it will pillage the next world once it had enough strength to completely take over it."

"It's made its decision, then," Knuckles growled.

Tails dropped down from the sky just then, holding Rose around her waist, as Rouge followed a second behind him, landing on the ground gracefully.

"We got them back to their homes," Tails announced as he placed Rose on the ground. "We made sure that the rabbit was safe with her husband, and Rouge took care of the teenager."

"This is a worst-case scenario," Lance muttered under his breath angrily. "We were hoping to try to bring down The Darkness before it came, but now it's at full power and trying to take over this world as well."

"How can we fight The Darkness if we can't see it?" Sonic asked, his eyes darting around for any physical form of an enemy.

"That's the point, Sonic," Aria croaked. "It's impossible to fight The Darkness now. It will destroy your world just as it had destroyed ours."

"We can't give up!" Sonic objected heatedly, his emerald green eyes determined.

"But there's nothing we can do," Rose whimpered, biting her lip. "The Darkness has already destroyed too much, and has taken over too much land. There's no more hope." She began to sob, and Tails held her close to him to try and comfort the other fox as she cried.

The others let the news absorb into them, and suddenly, the weight of their impending deaths hit them like a blow.

Aria turned to face shadow, her eyes full of sorrow and tears. "Shadow, I love you," she whispered as she held him close.

"I love you, too," Shadow murmured in reply, and they shared a passionate kiss, his arms around her waist as her fingers tangled in his quills and their tongues fought for dominance as they experienced complete, utter bliss, finding a few moments of perfection before they would die, together, in each other's arms.

"Lance, don't ever let me go," Amy pleaded as she hugged him even tighter than before.

"Never," Lance replied softly as he breathed in her scent, and they just stood like that, content with holding each other.

"Tails, I'm scared," Rose confessed in a small voice.

"I promise, I'll protect you," Tails vowed, hugging her.

Knuckles turned to face Rouge, whose eyes were wide as she realized that they were all going to die.

"Did you know that you are the most annoying, selfish person that I ever could've met in my life?" Knuckles said as he walked closer to her.

Rouge turned on him, glaring at him fiercely with her turquoise eyes. "Did you know that you are the most arrogant, hot-headed, brain-dead moron that I think ever existed?" she shot back. "And I could keep on going with the list if you want me—"

Her words were abruptly cut off and died in her throat when Knuckles suddenly wrapped his arms around her and brought his lips down on hers in a fierce and sudden kiss. Rouge's body replied without her knowing it as she wrapped her arms around his neck, because her brain was only registering the feel of his lips on her own and his tongue entwining with hers fiercely.

When they pulled away, breathless, Rouge gasped, "Wh-what was that for?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Knuckles replied honestly, and then, their eyes locked, and they both understood. They both realized at the same moment just how much they loved each other without words, and Rouge pulled Knuckles down for another deep, passionate kiss.

During this, Blaze was shaking her head, her golden eyes wide with disbelief as her hand was over her mouth. "No…it can't end like this…it just _can't_," she whispered disbelievingly, her voice a hoarse whisper.

Sonic went over to her and wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and she didn't hesitate to go into his chest as she shut her eyes against the world and all of its horrible cruelties, glad that, at least, she was going to die with her friends, and that she would be in Sonic's arms while their impending death continued to come ever closer.

"Sonic, thanks for everything you've done," Tails said with tear-filled eyes. "You're my hero and have always been like my brother."

"Thanks, lil' buddy," Sonic grinned, but Tails could tell that the grin was a bit forced but the words were meant. "You're a great kid, Tails."

Tails nodded, the tears spilling out as he just held onto Rose.

Shadow and Sonic both exchanged a quick nod, showing each other that they were truly allies, while Lance, Aria, and Rose turned to face each other.

"We couldn't save them," Rose said in a choked whisper.

"We tried our best—that's all that matters," Lance said to the two girls, before he continued to hold Amy even closer.

"Thank you all, for everything," Aria whispered, tears in her eyes as she exchanged once quick glance with Blaze, and the lavender cat managed a trembling smile and a nod as the sea-green one returned it, and then began to sob into the crook of Shadow's neck.

That was how they stood as The Darkness began to destroy the core of the planet, and Sonic and Blaze could almost hear its horrible cackling laughter in their minds. This made Blaze cringe the slightest bit and Sonic hold her even tighter to him possessively, like he was showing The Darkness that, no matter what, it could never separate him from Blaze.

Darkness began to consume all of their vision—a whimper was torn from Amy before Lance comforted her, and the rest of them were silent as the darkness began to come over their vision. They knew that it was the end for them

Then, there was a sudden burst of light before the darkness completely took over them, and the bright burst of warm, comforting light began to take over the darkness that had begun to eat away at their vision behind heir closed eyes, replacing the horrible, murky shadow with warm, inviting light. As the darkness began to get pushed away more and more, all ten of them opened their eyes, slowly, blinking at the sudden transition from darkness to light, and they all gasped at what they saw that had somehow saved them from The Darkness.

There was an inhuman shriek, before all of the storms—the rain pelting down, the hail falling, the fierce tornadoes and hurricanes—suddenly came to a screeching halt, and The Darkness began to swirl away from a single being.

A white hedgehog—seeming to somehow glow with radiance, like it was made out of light itself, that it was the physical manifestation of pure sunbeams that warmed the planet—was standing there, its palms up as it faced The Darkness, with light pulsing from its hands. The Darkness let out another scream that was unlike anything any of them had ever heard, and continued to draw away from the figure cloaked in white.

"_You may have won today,"_ The Darkness seethed in a raspy voice, even worse than its henchmen, as all the umbrae and penumbrae began to crawl back to their master and become absorbed in a swirling void of darkness that filled the sky, and, roughly, there was a flicker of large, angry pure red eyes in the black swirling cloud of pure darkness, _"but, in the end, the victory will belong to ME!"_

And, with that, The Darkness swirled away, disappearing into nothing as it fled.

All of the heroes stood in awe at the white figure who had somehow warded The Darkness away from them. The white figure had been floating, and now it gently floated down to the ground and touched the floor, but it didn't seem like it was actually touching the ground. It was almost like it was simply gliding along the surface with unimaginable grace. From behind, you could see that the fur of the hedgehog was a very light cream color, and was glowing, like the sun's rays. A cascade of slightly wavy hair that ended in a flip fell down the figure's back and ended at the hips, giving the indication that the figure was female. She wore white clothes that seemed to be made of light itself, the bright color of clouds on a sunny summer day, and it was long and flowing—a gown that fell down to her ankles and sleeves that draped to the ground.

The figure slowly turned around and began to walk over to the completely stunned foxes, cats, hedgehogs, echidna, and bat that were looking at her with utter shock, and they saw that she had crystalline blue eyes that seemed like gems themselves. As she walked towards them, she left a small trail of light as she made her way, and the trail soon gently disappeared. It was like stardust on the completely destroyed ground that was soggy from the rain and from the thrashings that The Darkness had given it. Her cloaks billowed in the breeze, but it seemed like she was a mirage, like she was unreal, that she was some unearthly being that came from heaven.

And then, she spoke in a voice that was like all the beautiful voices of the wind, of the gentle breezes and soft currents that gently made the waves on the sea foam, a voice that was completely unearthly.

"Hello, my heroes," she told them, her eyes shining brightly. "My name is Iridessa, also known as The Light."

**Well, here it is, folks! I got REALLY backed up around the middle of the chapter from the transition from one day into the next, and I knew where it was going but had no idea how in hell to get there. Also, as I said in the beginning, there's some family problems—one of my family members isn't doing so well, and there's been a lot of stress on us—and something happened to my internet, and I also had writer's block, and I was just on vacation. But it's not like you CARE about what's held me up! I'm gonna try and update as soon as I can, because I have overcome that block in my writer's block, and I think that I will be writing with renewed vigor now! Yay! Thanks for all of you who have reviewed, and, please, remember to review! Thank you all! **


	16. Warriors of Light

_Extra long chapter for you guys because you are all so patient, and also because of the lovely reviews that I had gotten for my story! Thanks for all the considerate reviews and bearing with me, and, as a gift, a pretty long chapter (at least I think so)! All right, here it is, remember, read and review, thanks for all the support! You guys are the best! :)_

Chapter 16

To say that all ten of the heroes were stunned would be a major understatement in this situation as they looked before them at the white hedgehog who had miraculously saved them all, the one who had called herself The Light. No, this situation called for a more…_intense_ word, such as complete, utter bewilderment and shock as the beautiful creature before them, the one who had driven The Darkness away. Each of them were still holding on to each other, not out of fear, but because, in the presence of this beautiful creature, they felt that they would fall down in complete awe, so they were using each other for support now, and also to offer slight reassurance.

"I can tell that you all have many questions for me," the white hedgehog, who had called herself Iridessa, continued, looking at the faces of the others as she smiled a bit. "I will do my best to answer all of them and satisfy you with my responses, my young heroes."

They were all struck dumb, so great was their shock, that none of them seemed to be able to form coherent words, much less a complete sentence that actually would make sense. They just continued to stare in awe at the unearthly creature before them, and Iridessa did not seem to mind the strange looks that she was receiving from the young ones.

"I heard about you from The Darkness," Sonic finally spoke up, and it shattered the stunned silence that had followed after Iridessa's appearance as he held Blaze closer to him, and she didn't protest. "He said that you were his sister, and that you guys were both the very entities that lie in Light and Darkness…" He trailed off as he continued to think about what The Darkness had told him that day that he had invaded his mind.

"Yes, Sonic, all that my brother said was true," Iridessa, The Light, murmured softly, her voice as gentle as the calm, lapping waves of the sea on a perfect day without a cloud in the sky. "If this will help, I will explain our history from the beginning."

All of them nodded their agreement, still shocked.

Iridessa fixed her crystalline blue eyes on all of them. "As my brother probably told you, both he and I are the very entities that lie in Light and Darkness, and we have been around since the dawn of time, since the very creation of the world. Our true names are Iridessa and Cimmerian, but others adopted the names Light and Darkness for us because it was simpler. My true form is light itself, but I prefer this form over my other form, because I can potentially harm others because of the brightness that my true form omits. However, my brother, Cimmerian, prefers his true form over a simpler form, because he believes that he is more threatening and more invincible that way, just like I am when I am in my true form.

"Now, Cimmerian and I are twins, and we never age. When creatures evolved, they needed my light to grow and live, but they did not need the darkness that my brother gave. No, it was not the same at all. For the living creatures enjoyed my light and smiled whenever light came, but they despised the darkness that my brother was granted with, scowling in anger or trembling in fear. When Cimmerian realized that I was being treated with love but he was being treated with spite and cruelty, he eventually let that anger fester in his soul. No living creature wanted darkness, and, each time he tried to help someone with darkness, he would get rejected. Each rejection caused him to become even more bitter, until it eventually ate away at his soul, turning him into a monster that only wished to destroy and had no mercy, for that was what others had cultivated him into becoming because others had believed that was what he was. Eventually, he began to believe that he was heartless, which led him to become the way he is. He gave in to the more cruel nature of darkness because of the way that he was treated by all living things with hatred.

"Over time, he began to give into his greed, his lust for power. I was stronger than him because I ruled with love, and he stood in the shadows, providing cover for evil to do their dirty work, who welcomed the darkness he provided. When he realized that the cruel things wanted darkness, he began to become even more cruel and decided that worlds would pay for hating darkness, for turning him into what he was. He only wanted power, only wanted to surpass me, and wanted to create an age of pain and chaos, only letting those who loved darkness live in his realms of complete and utter blackness with no light."

Iridessa looked away into the distance as she continued with a soft note in her voice, "I believe that my brother still has a shred of good deep, deep down within his being…but, if he does not find it soon, then he will completely give in to his evil desires and cruel nature, and he will be beyond saving…and I will have no choice but to destroy him once and for all."

Sonic looked at her with slight confusion on his face as he remembered something that The Darkness—also known as Cimmerian—had told him. He had been told that The Light had been defeated by The Darkness himself many eons ago…so had The Darkness been bluffing, or had The Light somehow miraculously made a recovery.

Suddenly, Iridessa fixed her eyes on Sonic. "That is true, Sonic," she said quietly. "I _was_ temporarily defeated by my brother some time ago, at a time that I was slightly less powerful than hum."

All the others turned to Sonic, whose emerald green eyes were bugging out of his head in shock. _Did she just read my mind?_ he thought.

A smile formed on Iridessa's face at his expression. "Yes, I can read minds," she said, her tone amused. "And now, to answer your previous question regarding the battle between my brother and I…

"Eons ago—I do not remember when, for time doesn't have much meaning to me—my brother had been so consumed with greed that he had tried to take away one of the largest planets with the most power and claim the power as his own. At that time, I was not more powerful than him, simply because he had begun pillaging planets for their power for quite a while. I tried to stop him, to make him see the light and see sense and reason, but he would not listen. His rage consumed him, giving him more power, and he was able to defeat me, in the process destroying the very world that I was trying to protect. Afterwards, I made sure that my brother would not find me, and I gathered my power until I was, yet again, more powerful than he. Yet, I have not been able to reach this much power until very recently. That is the reason that I was unable to save your world, Lance, Aria, and Rose." At this, Iridessa turned to face them, seeing the grief on their faces. "I was unable to gain enough power—if I had tried to fight Cimmerian when he was ravaging your home, I would've lost, and, if my brother completely defeats me in battle, then he becomes even more powerful, because he has both light and darkness within him, and he shall be completely unstoppable. The universe would never be safe again if he manages to defeat me."

"How did you know that he was attacking our world?" Tails asked quietly.

Iridessa smiled. "Miles…or do you prefer the name Tails?" she asked, before she began.

"I prefer Tails," the little orange fox told the unearthly being bashfully.

"I see, the name given to you by your hero," The Light murmured softly, her blue eyes shining with kindness. "Tails, it is a power that I posses, for my brother and I know where each other is—if we don't keep our power hidden. Since I kept my power hidden, Cimmerian couldn't find me. But my brother was foolish and flaunted his power, so I always knew where he was, for I could always sense him."

"Is The Darkness going to continue to destroy our world?" Knuckles demanded to know.

"I do not believe so, Knuckles," Iridessa answered. "I have placed my protective seal upon this world now, and I believe that my brother will not be able to breach its defenses. Unfortunately, with that course of action, I have drained my power considerably, and my brother is still alive."

"If The Darkness isn't going to continue attacking us, then do you know where he's going next?" Lance inquired. "If you do, then can you place a protective seal over that world, too, like you have with this one?"

"Sadly, no, Lance, I have drained too much power in placing a shield here that I am unable to create another one for quite some time," Iridessa answered with pain and sadness in her voice. "And, yes, I do know where The Darkness is going to go next. He is going to the world that is the most closely linked to this one, the one that is this world's parallel dimension."

After a few moments, Blaze's eyes widened. "You don't mean…" she trailed off in a whisper.

Iridessa met the lavender cat's worried golden eyes. "I am sorry, dear one, but your suspicious are true. My brother is going to be traveling to your world next, and is on his way there now, to try and pillage it. And I am unable to aid in the fighting, for I do not have enough power to protect your dimension from my brother's greed."

"There has to be _some_ way that we can stop it!" Blaze objected heatedly. "I can't just sit here and just let my world be destroyed, I can't just let my people…_die_!"

"I never said that you were helpless, did I?" Iridessa countered calmly.

"What…?" Blaze looked at the white hedgehog curiously.

"I have enough power to allow two people to travel to a different dimension—if I make any more than two beings travel to a different world, then my power will be drained, and I will be too weak. If I only sent two people, I will have enough to at least stop my brother's henchmen—the umbrae and penumbrae—if they stay here. I have a feeling that my brother will still try to wreak havoc here, even though he will not take this planet's power for his own any longer," Iridessa replied gently. "I know that you want to return home, Blaze, and help aid the people, am I correct?"

"Yes," Blaze answered instantly.

"Well, then, who would you wish to be your companion?" The Light continued.

"I don't truly have a preference," Blaze confessed, but then she knew that she wasn't exactly telling the truth.

"You just can't choose," Iridessa murmured softly, looking at Blaze and gently probing through her mind to see the real reason as to why she didn't have a preference for her companion.

"Who would like to go with Blaze back to her world?" Iridessa asked.

"I'll go," Sonic and Shadow instantly said at the same time, making the two glare at each other for a moment before turning back to Iridessa.

"I've been to Blaze's world before, I know it better than you do, and so does Tails!" Sonic said, giving a reason as to why he should go over Shadow.

"Shadow," Iridessa cut in before the taciturn ebony hedgehog could come up with his own reason for going with Blaze, "I believe that it would be best for you if you stood here."

"Why?" Shadow shot back.

"Because, it is true, Sonic knows Blaze's world better than you." At this, Sonic shot Shadow a triumphant smirk while he tingled with the prospect of yet another new adventure. "And, also, as I said before, I believe that some of the umbrae and penumbrae could still be lurking around, as some other beasts that my brother has created, beasts of pure destruction."

"We've never seen anything but the umbrae and penumbrae," Rose said, confused.

"Cimmerian has much more than only the shadows—he also creates hideous creatures, such as griffins, minotaurs, hydras, gorgons…all hideous creatures from myths and legends," Iridessa explained. "Shadow, it would be good for you to stay here and aide us in fighting these monsters while Sonic travels with Blaze to her home."

Shadow appeared thoughtful for a minute, still pissed off about losing an argument, but then he realized that if he went with Blaze that he would be separated from Aria for who knows how long. And, also, it would be interesting to see these other creatures that were created by The Darkness…

"Fine, I'll stay," Shadow relented, and he saw Aria's bright smile as he still held her close, and she kissed his cheek lovingly.

Iridessa nodded, and then turned to Sonic and Blaze, who had let go of each other. Blaze had a slight blush tainting her cheeks, as did Sonic, as they looked at her expectantly. She smiled warmly at the light blushes that were on them, fondly shaking her head the slightest bit.

"I will not be accompanying you on your journey," she told them. "But, I will send some of my warriors to help you in times of need, if you ever require help on your quest. Meanwhile, the rest of you will train with me and help me overcome Cimmerian's henchmen, correct?"

Lance, Aria, Knuckles, Rouge, Shadow, Rose, Tails, and Amy all nodded, their faces determined that they would protect their home.

Iridessa smiled, like sunlight gently touching the surface of a clear lake. "Good. It would be best for the Chaos and Sol Emeralds to stay here as well on this dimension, where it will be kept from my brother," she said, though it was more like a question as if she was asking permission.

"Yes, it would be better if the Sol Emeralds stood here, so that they don't scatter when I travel to my world again," Blaze replied.

"Excellent," Iridessa smiled once again. "Now, I shall proceed." She turned to the waiting blue hedgehog and lavender cat, and then she closed her beautiful colored eyes, extending her hands, palm out, towards them as she began to make motions with her hands, murmuring something in an ancient language, in a tongue that sounded strangely musical. Behind Sonic and Blaze, a small portal of white light began to grow in diameter, as Iridessa continued to focus her power and repeat the chant over and over, and the white circle of light grew larger with each word, each movement that she made. Sonic quickly grabbed Blaze's hand for comfort for both of them as they turned to meet the circle of light, and Blaze did not object to his kind gesture.

The white light continued to grow, and it enveloped both Sonic and Blaze, making their forms become transparent for a second before disappearing into the white circle of warm light.

The moment that Iridessa opened her eyes, the white portal flashed away, and it seemed that it was never there in the first place. Sonic and Blaze were both gone, both in Blaze's dimension.

The Light dropped her hands, turning around to meet the faces of the rest of her heroes. "Wait one moment, young ones," she said softly. "I would like you to meet some of my warriors, who will help you with your training. They are arriving…now."

And then, behind her, a few portals of light opened up, soft, gentle, inviting light, and figures began to form from the brightness, tangible figures, while the rest of them gaped in pure awe at the sight that was beholding them.

**OVER WITH SONIC AND BLAZE…**

The trip through the brightness seemed to be done just about the moment that it started, and yet it seemed to last forever as well. As usual, the experience through traveling through dimensions was always nerve-wracking, and both of them had been conscious this time, compared to the other times that Sonic and Blaze were usually unconscious as they were teleported to a different world by the power of the Emeralds.

When they landed in Blaze's world, they were in a green meadow, and the first sound that they heard were small birds chirping happy little melodies. Eventually, the whiteness faded away, and they were able to see that they were near the end of a forest, because they could clearly see what was in front of them, and Sonic took in a gasp.

"Whoa," he said, shaking his head, while Blaze's eyes widened in surprise. "Blaze, is _that_ the castle that you live in?" Sonic asked, awed.

Blaze nodded numbly, looking at the beautiful palace. It was a beautiful white, with grand spires topped with gold, richly ornamented with large, beautiful stones and different designs—they were close enough to notice the outlines of some of the lovely, intricate designs, which were of many different things that were unable to be named. The palace was like something straight out of a fairy tale, and what completed the look was the sun shining down at the perfect point in the sky at the precise moment, making the gold sparkle and the beautiful white marble that made up the outside seem to shimmer, the sunlight glinting off of the beautiful gems and stones that were on its surface.

Sonic let out a low whistle, impressed by the grandness of the building as his eyes darted around in surprise. "I've never been to this part of your world before," he said thoughtfully as he looked around.

"There was no need to come to the palace," Blaze answered shortly. "Marine's home on Southern Island was just fine for our quest when you first were transported to my world."

Sonic nodded, partly paying attention and partly still mesmerized by all the amazing sights around him, hearing the birds call to one another with their lovely songs in their throats.

"The Darkness isn't here yet," he murmured. "We would've…sensed it, right?"

Blaze nodded. "There's always a little feeling in the back of our minds ever since the penumbrae bit us, and it tells us that The Darkness is near. But that feeling is gone now, I do not believe that The Darkness has enough power to attack us like he did back on your world."

"Yeah," he replied, marveling at the beauty of everything. Blaze saw his awed face, and she betrayed a small smile at his face—it was like a three-year-old first visiting an aquarium, or a teenager going into high school for the first time. Surprised and reverent, probably because he had never imagined something like this in her world, seeming to come right out of a storybook.

"We may as well go to the palace, so that I can know what's happened while I've been gone," she told him.

"Wait, I'm seriously gonna get to see the palace that you live in?" Sonic asked.

Blaze rolled her eyes in slight irritation. "Where else would you be staying?" she said, answering his question with a question.

Sonic grinned broadly, getting ready to dash in the direction of the palace. He turned towards Blaze, who was looking in the distance, an unreadable expression on her features.

"Hey, what is it?" Sonic asked.

Blaze snapped out of her seemingly self-induced trance. "Nothing," she replied quickly, getting ready to run. "Come on, let's go."

With that, the two took off towards the direction of the palace. When Sonic pulled slightly ahead of Blaze, she ran faster to pull ahead of him, and, with that, it became an unspoken race between the two as they ran, laughing in ecstasy, the thrill of the run, of the wind blowing past their faces as the adrenaline pumped through their veins, feeling completely and utterly free as they raced.

All too soon, they were at Blaze's palace. Sonic's eyes were wide as he looked up at the grand golden doors of the palace, actually needing to tilt his head back to see the top, and he looked so ridiculous that Blaze let out a small laugh.

"Come on, Sonic," she said, and he snapped out of it as he shook his head, following her.

Before they could go in, two guards—a silver hawk with sharp, piercing yellow eyes, and a brown echidna with blue eyes—suddenly stopped Sonic, extending their swords out as they glared at him. Sonic, shocked, put his hands up in surrender.

"Hey, guys," he tried gamely at attempting conversation, but yellow and ice blue eyes stared back at him coldly. "Um, I'm not trying to bring any trouble…"

"He's with me," Blaze said, and the guards instantly turned towards her at the sound of their Princess's voice.

"Your Highness, who, exactly, is he?" the hawk, whose name was Talon, asked the princess.

Blaze closed her eyes in frustration, deciding not to reprimand the guard for calling her that dreaded title—she had more important things to handle right now than to correct another error that was always made. "He is Sonic the Hedgehog, the one who helped me stop Eggman and Eggman Nega from stealing the Power of the Stars and potentially destroying both our world and his own," she answered curtly.

The swords dropped instantly as they looked at the blue hedgehog with new respect in their eyes.

"We're sorry, Sonic, sir," the echidna—his name was Thorn—apologized, as he and his partner gave him a slight bow in reverence.

Sonic's eyes widened. "Guys, there's no need for all that formality," he said, shaking his head, making Thorn and Talon look at him with surprise flickering in their eyes. "I don't like it that much when others treat me like I'm a god—I'm just…me," Sonic explained.

A glance was shared between the two guards, seeming to understand, and they nodded at him, while Blaze was standing behind them as she had entered the doors to the palace already. "Come on," she told him again, and Sonic followed the lavender cat into the palace.

The inside was even more beautiful than the outside, if it was possible. White, polished marble and granite lined the walls in some places, while other places had beautiful, glossy obsidian stone. There were so many rooms, and there were stairs leading to floors in the upper floors. All the doors had beautiful designs and engravings on them, some of the doors were opened and some were closed. Delicious smells wafted from one of the larger doors, giving Sonic the impression that the room they were passing was the kitchens. He realized that Blaze was taking him towards the stairs, and he awkwardly move to the side of a rushing guard who was running down the halls. The guard didn't even hear his attempted apology as he continued to go, making Sonic shake his head before continued to follow Blaze up the twirling stairs of the palace, which had golden railings.

The upstairs floors were considerably quieter than the floors on the first lever on the castle. Sonic didn't see anyone upstairs, and saw only one or two of the richly ornamented doors opened. Blaze continued to lead him down the hallways and corridors, turning into a room.

"This is where you'll be staying, or if you prefer a different room, then I'll arrange something," Blaze said.

Sonic's eyes widened. The room that she had chosen for him was blue, dark blue in some parts and light blue in others, and extremely pale blue in yet other parts of the room. The walls were lighter than the sheets on the bed, and the windows were framed with smooth, sparkling gold, and the royal blue curtains flapped in the slight breeze coming from the open window. It was unlike anything he'd ever seen before.

Blaze betrayed another small smile. "I thought that you'd like it," she told him, warmth in her voice.

"This is _awesome_! Do I get room service, too?" Sonic joked.

Blaze laughed. "No, you have to come downstairs to the kitchens to get your own meals, I'll tell them that you're no threat."

"Gosh, Blaze, thanks a lot," Sonic said gratefully.

"It's no trouble," Blaze replied with a dismissive tone in her voice, waving her hand in a general direction. "It's the least I could do. If you should need anything from me, I'll be down in my own room, two rooms down, and if I'm not there, then you can ask—"

"Your Highness!"

Both Sonic and Blaze turned towards the sound of the familiar voice, and the koala bear with the blue uniform and dark eyes was there, the face that had become very familiar to Sonic in his travels in Blaze's world, and a face that Blaze knew since she was a small child.

"Hey, Gardon!" Sonic greeted, giving the guard a thumbs-up.

Gardon's eyes fixed on Sonic, and a smile lit his features. "Sonic, sir, it is a pleasure to see you again!" he said, nodding his head, before turning towards Blaze once more. "Your Highness—"

"Gardon, how many times have I told you _not_ to call me that?" Blaze cut him off with annoyance, her voice almost a growl in irritation but not quite.

"Oh—my apologies, Princess Blaze!" Gardon hastily corrected himself.

"Well, what is it, then?" Blaze prodded him on. "You seemed to have wanted to tell me something."

"Yes, Princess," Gardon said, turning towards his ruler. "There are many things that we need to discuss since your recent unintentional…departure, and I need to speak to you in private."

Blaze's eyebrow raised in question, but she didn't voice her inquiries.

"I will be in the library waiting for you after you get Sonic settled down," Gardon said, and Blaze nodded, and the guard took that as his cue to leave as he scurried out of the room, casting the princess one last, slightly anxious and foreboding glance before leaving."

"Man, he seemed really…weird, like, frazzled," Sonic commented once the koala bear left.

"I wonder…" Blaze trailed off, looking away as she thought of the possibilities that could've made her guard so anticipating, so anxious, that he seemed strangely out of character.

Shaking herself out of her reverie, she turned to the matter at hand. "As I was saying," she continued to the blue hedgehog, "if I am not in my room, then I may be in the library or out on the beach. If you need anything and cannot find me, then just speak to Talon or Gardon."

"Talon?" Sonic asked.

"The silver hawk that stopped you at the gates—one of my most loyal guards," Blaze answered. "But I do not believe that you will have trouble finding me very often."

"OK," Sonic answered, nodding.

"I have to go to the library to see what Gardon was all anxious about," she told him, beginning to leave the room. She turned around a few steps in front of the open door, looking into his emerald green eyes as she said, "Feel free to explore the castle—just don't get into _too_ much trouble."

"I'll try not to, but you know me," Sonic grinned, making Blaze laugh again, casting him one last glance before leaving to the library, where her guard was waiting for her.

After she left, he knew that he couldn't stay cooped up in this room. Just out of curiosity, though, he flopped down on the bed, and was surprised by the firmness of the mattress. It was actually perfect—not too soft, but not too firm, either, and the sheets and blankets all felt cool against his skin as he lied down on them. He the jumped back up, deciding to look around the castle, curious as to what went on in the home that Blaze stayed in.

With that, he got off of the bed, and curiously began to dart along the corridors of the large palace.

**BACK WITH THE OTHERS ON SONIC'S WORLD…**

Standing on either side of Iridessa were six figures, three on her left and three on her right, and seemed to be made out of pure light just like she was. The others were completely stunned as they looked at the beings that seemed like angels before them.

"These are my warriors of light," Iridessa murmured as she gestured to the figures on her left and right, nodding to them gently. "They are different than the umbrae and penumbrae that my brother has, because I do not use weaker monsters like that which cannot think for themselves. Please," she said, turning to the figures behind her, "introduce yourselves to these young heroes."

One of them, the one that was standing right next to Iridessa, stood forward. "My name is Malachim," he introduced himself as he bowed respectfully towards the young warriors. He was an eagle, with golden talons on his feet and bright white wings, and it seemed to bright that it almost hurt to look upon him directly with their eyes. His own eyes were an orange color, like hazel, and he seemed majestic and proud. His golden, curved beak glinted in the afternoon sunshine as he swept up from his bow, stepping back in line with his leader.

The next to step up was a beautiful cream-colored fox, with dark blue eyes that were kind and warm and welcoming. She wore a long, flowing white dress, much like Iridessa's, except for the fact that it was sleeveless. Her cream-colored hair had bangs that swept to the right side of her face, nearly covering her beautiful deep blue eyes but not quite, and her eyes were framed with long lashes. Around her neck was a beautiful necklace made of crystal, and it had an aqua colored gem in the middle of the chain of the sparkling substance. Her fluffy tail waved gracefully behind her as she stepped forward to greet the eight stunned heroes. "I am called Numina," she said softly, her voice as gentle as the light that slightly emanated from her being.

As she stepped back to her place next to Iridessa, the being next to her decided to step up. He was a sturdy slightly-off white echidna, with his white color having the slightest twinge of gray in it. His dreadlocks had silver clasps separating them, and there was a thick band of silver that encircled his head and had a strange engraving on it. His gray eyes were serious, and he seemed ready for battle, but he also seemed completely at peace as well, as if he was anticipating a fight but was glad for the peace that he was being given. "I am Uriel," he said in greeting, bowing his head as another spirit quickly took his place.

The next person who went up right after the echidna was a white hedgehog with bright golden streaks in his quills, shining brightly, as if he was made out of sunlight itself. The white hedgehog's bright green eyes were full of life and vigor, eager to face whatever was in front of him without fear, and there was a single thin band of golf that went around his head, almost like it was a halo, but not quite. He was smiling gently at the younger ones in front of him. "My name," he began, and his voice was almost like music, "is Phoebus."

When he stepped back to stand in line once again with The Light, the next being introduced herself. A lovely, extremely beautiful white cat was now introducing herself, looking at them all. She was a beautiful, gentle cream color, like the fox had been, but her form seemed to emanate slightly more light than her companion's did, and she wore different clothing. Her robes were long and flowing, and had small designs of lovely flowers on them that sparkled the slightest bit whenever she moved because off the light she was radiating. Her eyes were violet, a deep, beautiful violet color that contained the perfect amount of both red and blue to make the loveliest hue of purple that there was. Her hair, streaked with pure white, fell straight, and there was one small braid in her hair that fell to the side and was a mix of both cream and pure white strands. On her wrists were two small gold and silver bracelets that had countless, beautiful engravings and designs and jewels inlaid on them. Her long-lashed eyes were full of kindness, gentleness, and peace, and she dazzlingly smiled at the eight young heroes that her mistress had chosen. "I'm Thalia," she smiled at them, pushing her hair back a bit as the last person took their place.

The last one of Iridessa's six warriors who had materialized from the bright light made himself known. "And I am called Janus," the other hedgehog besides Iridessa and the other light warrior spoke, his voice calming and soothing. His white was not like his companion's—no, not at all. For the other male hedgehog gave off the type of light that was like the sun, while this hedgehog was white, like snow, except it was more tanned, off-white, like the echidna had been. This hedgehog's quills were vividly streaked with light brown, and he had light brown eyes that betrayed little emotion but gave you the sense that you could trust him. He stepped back into line once he was introduced.

"My warriors will help you train," Iridessa murmured, and the eight stunned heroes turned to her lovely, musical voice once more. "Until then, I can offer no further assistance, except give you all my blessings, and wait until I have enough power to once again defeat my brother, Cimmerian, if he comes back and tries to ravage this world once more, and I will assist Sonic and Blaze if they need it. Until then, my young heroes," she continued, and began floating into the sky, "I pray that you train well. Thank you for protecting your world—you will all become great heroes someday, even greater than what you are now."

And, with those last words, Iridessa began to fade away into the sunlight, until there was no trace of the lovely white hedgehog any more.

The six warriors had been watching Iridessa fade away, their heads bowed in respect for their master as she made her leave. When she was completely gone into the daylight, they turned to their charges, all of their eyes looking at the widened eyes of the eight heroes they were supposed to train.

"I presume that this doesn't happen to you every day, does it?" Phoebus asked with a gentle smile.

They all numbly shook their heads in unison, making the warriors of The Light smile at one another a bit, as if they knew an inside joke that they would not share with anyone else.

"There is no need to seem so intimidated by us, young ones," Uriel told them with a small chuckle.

"We will not harm you—we are simply going to help you train to defeat The Darkness," Numina explained softly, a gentle smile gracing her features.

Janus stepped up, looking towards the others as all the warriors of light shared a glance with each other. "And we have each decided who we will take as our apprentices," he told the group in front of him. "Since there are eight of you, four of us will take one apprentice, and the last two will take two each."

Malachim raised his elegant golden beak. "Lance the Hedgehog," he stated, his voice like thunder, demanding respect instantly from whoever he met, "I have decided to take you as my apprentice, along with Amy Rose the Hedgehog, so she, too, may receive training."

Lance's eyes were wide as Amy clung to him tighter, her green eyes surprised.

"I-I'd be honored, sir," Lance said gratefully with a respectful nod of his head as he looked towards the ground in slight embarrassment.

"Aria the Cat, I have chosen you to be my apprentice," Thalia smiled brilliantly at the stunned sea-green cat, whose own magenta eyes were stunned beyond belief at this. Aria stepped forward, detaching herself from Shadow, as she bowed her head towards the other lovely cat in front of her.

"Thank you, milady," Aria whispered, closing her eyes.

"Shadow the Hedgehog," Janus spoke next, "I choose you to be my pupil." Shadow growled a bit at the idea of being trained by someone else and having to take orders from him, but he consented without a verbal war, nodding his affirmation.

"I will hold nothing back," Shadow warned.

This earned a smirk from Janus. "I was hoping to hear that," the white hedgehog smirked.

Quickly, as they realized that they were being trained by different people, Aria and Shadow exchanged a slightly worried look between them—Shadow looked at her protectively while Aria looked at him with worry.

This earned a beautiful, bell-like laugh from Thalia, who seemed to be the most happy and lively out of all the others, next to Phoebus. "Do not worry, dear one," she smiled gently to Aria. "You will be able to see your true love every day, I promise you that; I would not separate two souls who truly loved each other for such an extended period of time."

Aria and Shadow both slightly blushed at the simple way that Thalia had put it, but Aria bowed her head once more. "Thank you, ma'am," she said respectfully.

Uriel stepped up. "I have chosen Knuckles the Echidna as my apprentice," he said, "and Rouge the Bat along with him."

Knuckles skeptically eyed the other off-white echidna, but he stepped up, along with Rouge, and Knuckles, like Shadow, nodded his consent, while Rouge simply let out a small sigh but did not speak out her slight frustration.

It was Numina's turn to speak as she gently went forward. "For my pupil, I have chosen Rose the Fox," she said gently as she smiled at the other small fox in front of her. Rose, stunned, went up to the beautiful white fox and bowed her head.

"Thank you so much, miss," the little fox said gratefully, "for choosing me."

"And I, myself, have chosen to take Tails as my apprentice," Phoebus finished, looking at the orange fox with laughter sparkling in his bright, vivid green eyes that were full of life, laughter, and joy. Tails walked slowly up to him, bowing his head to Phoebus.

"Sir, I promise that I will listen to everything you have to say, and I hope that I can possibly become what you want me to be," Tails said softly as he looked down at the ground.

Phoebus smiled. "And for that very reason, Tails, for your pure heart and wish to be better, is the reason that I have chosen you."

Tails looked up, seeing the truth in the hedgehog's eyes, and smiled brightly.

The six warriors of light exchanged some more glances with each other. "We will bring them all completely together in two months' time, at this spot," Malachim stated as he met the eyes of his comrades.

"Yes," Uriel nodded.

"Agreed," Thalia added her consent.

"Then it is settled." With that, the great eagle, along with Lance and Amy, gently faded away.

"Where'd they go?" Rose asked, mouth agape in surprise.

"Malachim simply teleported them to their location," Numina replied gently, placing a reassuring hand on the little girl's shoulder. "And now, we will go as well."

Then, both the foxes disappeared from sight, fading gently away just like Malachim had with his two charges.

"We are next," Phoebus said to Tails, smiling. "Are you ready?"

"Yes, sir," Tails replied, his sky blue eyes bright with hope, and Phoebus transported him to where they needed to go.

Uriel transported Knuckles and Rouge to their location without any words exchanged from them, but Rouge did reach out to grab Knuckles' hand for her slight reassurance. Knuckles didn't push it away as he held onto her hand to comfort her.

Next to go were Aria and Thalia, and they faded away to wherever they were supposed to go.

"And now, it is our turn, Shadow," Janus said to the ebony hedgehog next to him as he turned to meet Shadow's ruby red eyes.

"Hmph," Shadow offered in reply, crossing his arms.

Janus actually snickered a bit at that—Shadow was reminding him of himself when he had been created by The Light, slightly defiant and refusing to show anyone that they held power over him. It amused Janus, making him even gladder that he had chosen Shadow to be his apprentice.

And, on that thought, Janus finally transported them to where they were going to begin their training, leaving the city barren.

Up in the sky, a gentle circle of light flickered, like heaven's light escaping through the clouds and the sky, and a soft voice spoke from the beautiful circle of warm and inviting light.

"Take care, my heroes," Iridessa murmured. "I know that all of you will become great heroes, remembered forever, in stories passed down from your children to your children's children, and everyone's lives that you save. I know that I made the right choices in selecting you all to be the saviors of your people. Until we meet again…"

And then, the gentle circle of light disappeared, fading away into the beautiful bright blue sky.

**BACK IN BLAZE'S WORLD…**

"Lovely," Blaze muttered in agitation when she heard the news from Gardon, placing her head in her hands. "I disappear for just two months at most and _he_ believes that he's suddenly become king!"

"Princess Blaze, I know how sore you are about this subject," Gardon began, "but you were not there, and the people chose the next best thing."

"As if the people ever care about what I do for them!" Blaze snarled. "Do they not know that the reason that I was transported to Sonic's world was because I was, yet _again_, trying to keep the Sol Emerald's from Eggman Nega's grasp, that I did not _intentionally_ leave them?"

"Er…no, Princess, they can't truly understand the concept of another world merging with this one," Gardon answered, wincing as he prepared for the outraged reaction from his ruler.

Instead, Blaze let out a frustrated sigh as she brought her right hand down from her head, forming a small ball of fire in her palm in irritation. "First, we have the impending doom of a planet-life-sucking tyrant, and now I have to deal with _his_ crap…" she growled under her breath.

"Excuse me, Princess, did you say something?" Gardon asked, not sure if he had heard her mutter things.

"Nothing, Gardon," Blaze replied, lying through her teeth as she stood up from the chair she had been sitting on. "Has he left yet?"

"I believe that, when the guards said that you came back, that he did, in fact, leave," the faithful koala bear replied.

Blaze let out a small sigh of relief. At least she didn't have to deal with _him_, on top of The Darkness.

"Thank you for telling me, Gardon," the lavender cat thanked him as she began to leave the library.

"You're welcome, Princess," Gardon replied, bowing his head the slightest bit.

Blaze nodded, and then she exited the library, her long tail flowing behind her gracefully as thoughts clouded her head. Why did _he_ always have to come in and make everything worse? At least he left, she consoled herself with a sigh. She wasn't sure if she would ever be able to hold a truly decent conversation with him because of the way he acted around her, and she didn't want all of his bull along with the impending threat that The Darkness was going to come and try to purge her planet of its life force.

Suddenly, a fierce gust of wind ran in front of her, and Blaze instantly recognized that wind. She crossed her arms as she tapped her foot and waited for him to stop and answer her, which he did, a bit sheepishly. Sonic stopped running and turned around, grinning sheepishly at her.

"Didn't I ask you to _try_ and stay out of trouble?" she asked him.

"I didn't get in trouble," Sonic said instantly. "I just ran around the palace a bit, exploring rooms…"

"What, exactly, did you explore?" Blaze asked with a raised eyebrow.

Sonic ticked off the things with his fingers as he said, "The kitchen, the gardens, the meeting room, three other guest rooms, the guard's rooms, your room, the torture chamber—"

"Wait, you went into _my_ room?" Blaze suddenly interjected, aghast.

Sonic winced, realizing that he had said too much. "Um…yeah?" he replied sheepishly.

A light blush began to tinge Blaze's cheeks as she remembered the condition that her room had been in. She hadn't exactly had time to organize it when Eggman Nega attacked, and, as she had been reorganizing her clothes the other day, she had left her quite a few of her undergarments scattered on the floor. Without saying anything else to Sonic, she instantly ran back up to her room, blushing fiercely at the disarray it was in, seeing some of her undergarments littering the floor.

"Crap," she muttered angrily at herself. "Why the hell couldn't you spare a few moments to clean this up?"

She hurriedly placed her clothing away, shutting the drawers and letting out a small sigh of relief. _That_ had been _embarrassing_.

That same gust of wind ran across the hall, and he paused in her doorway. "Hey, you OK, Blaze?" he asked her, peeking into the room.

She ran up to the door, shutting it behind her in embarrassment. "I'm fine," she answered instantly.

Sonic's look stated that he wasn't buying it, but he let it go.

"You know, your gardens were really beautiful," Sonic commented.

"Thanks," Blaze replied, smiling a bit. "I do quite a bit of the flower arranging myself, and I pick the flowers."

"Really? Because I think that they're perfect arrangements," Sonic said truthfully. "Except…I don't really know what most of those flowers are."

"Well, come on, I'll tell you the names of the flowers I know," Blaze offered, beginning to walk down the hallways. With a grin, Sonic followed behind her, and then he walked a little ways ahead of her.

She stepped forward to stay ahead of him.

He went forward again, jogging a bit.

Before either of them knew it, they had entered an unspoken race, both of them laughing like little children as they acted with an immaturity that was perfect for their years, not the seriousness that they both knew that shouldn't weigh upon their minds.

The sun was just setting over the horizon when they reached the gardens, and Blaze began showing Sonic around. She pointed to this type of tree or that variety of flower, telling him the names, and he listened, nodding as she explained them to him, but he found himself often gazing at her. She was even more beautiful in the late and rich colors of the setting sun, her lavender fur seeming to have a sheen, a shimmer to it, her long eyelashes catching the last rays of sunshine, her beautiful golden eyes glinting in the light. As she tenderly touched the petals of a flower, gently caressing them and telling him about them, he half listened to her and half simply watched her beauty and gracefulness.

"Sonic, are you all right?" Blaze asked him, looking at him curiously.

Sonic shook himself out of his trance. "Yeah, I'm OK," he replied easily and smoothly. "You know, this place is really pretty at sundown."

"It sure is," Blaze breathed out with a sigh, looking at the lovely fading colors of the sunset. "Sometimes, when everything just seems too much, I come out here and watch the sunset, but on the roof, the view is even better. Sometimes, I even go to the beach. It helps calm my nerves and makes me feel…I don't know…like everything will be right in the world." Instantly, she clamped her mouth shut, afraid that she had already said too much, blushing at how he would reply.

"I feel the same way when I watch the sunset back on my home," Sonic replied gently, making her look up at him through her long lashes, smiling a bit, and they just stood there in companionable silence for a while, as the sunset eventually faded into nighttime and they just watched the sky.

"Well, we should go back inside now," Blaze said. "We should get some rest, because we don't know when The Darkness will strike."

Sonic nodded, and then, he extended his hand for Blaze to take.

Blaze hesitated for a moment, before smiling a bit more and taking his hand, and he grinned broadly as they ran back to the palace.

Inside, Sonic explored a bit more before he would hit the sack, and Blaze went back down to the library, where she often went to collect her thoughts because of the quietness and beauty of the room. It gave her time to contemplate, to think things over, and gave her a sense of peace, like looking out at the sunset in the gardens or at the beach.

As Blaze began to read one of her favorite novels, the fur at the back of her neck pricked, showing that she wasn't alone, the same feeling that she always got when an enemy was waiting for her in the shadows. Instantly, she tensed, unsure of what to do as she casually closed the book.

"So, Blaze, you're finally back?" a familiar voice sounded behind her.

It was _him_. But how? Didn't Gardon say that he had left when the other guards informed him of her arrival.

Blaze felt anger begin to well up inside of her as she pressed down on the cover of the book, keeping her rage in check as she took a few deep breaths.

"I thought that you'd left us for good, having too much fun in another person's world," the voice—that horrible, hated voice—went on.

With a growl, Blaze stood up and placed the book back on its shelf, closing her eyes and refusing to turn around.

"You won't even acknowledge me?" the voice continued to ask.

Snarling, Blaze whipped around to finally meet the eyes of her offender, the eyes that were so dark that they seemed black, glaring daggers at him, a glare that he often received. Her glare would have been able to make hell freeze over as her eyes turned into hard chips of gold at the sight of her cousin. She spat out one single sentence, full of venom, hatred, and, masked most of all, hurt.

"What do you want, Ares?"


	17. Training and Realization

Chapter 17

Blaze glared at her cousin with fury swimming within the depths of her livid golden eyes, fury, anger, and, deeper than all of those combined, a mixture of agony and hurt. Hurt from rejection, from cruelty, and from being unwanted, just like she had been all of her life.

Ares the Cat looked back at his cousin, easily meeting her fierce glare that would have intimidated anyone else, but it was a look that she gave him so much that he was used to it by now. His blood-red fur was illuminated by the dim light in the great library, the brighter flecks of orange that lightly scattered around his fur seeming to be even more pronounced. And his eyes—those dark, cold gray eyes with deep, dark ruby red flecks in them—were bottomless and almost completely emotionless, save for one very prominent emotion.

Hatred.

"Well, Blaze, that's no way to greet a family member," Ares taunted maddeningly, his eyes full of cool anger as he looked at Blaze. "_I_ did not greet you like that."

"It's not like you greet me nicely, either," Blaze growled in reply.

"So, what took you so long to return back to the kingdom?" Ares asked her as his eyes scanned along the books, unfazed by her blatant anger. "Were you having too much fun in another dimension to care about the people any more?"

"Ares, it is not my choice to travel between dimensions," Blaze tried to calmly explain to him, but her frustrated and angered manner easily made its way into her voice. "The Sol Emeralds transported me there, and Sol Control was not ensued."

"Then how did you get back?" Ares challenged.

"You would not believe me," Blaze shot back in reply.

"I have a feeling that you just came back when you felt like it," he said, his finger trailing along the bindings on one of the books.

"That's not true," Blaze defended herself as her body tensed, the way that it automatically did when she prepared for a fight. In this case, she was preparing to somehow get something that seemed virtually impossible through her cousin's head—how a planet-eating monster called The Darkness, also known as Cimmerian, was coming here to their world; how Cimmerian's sister, The Light, also known as Iridessa, had transported her and Sonic back to her home world; how, when The Darkness gained enough power, it could destroy their world as they knew it.

Ares rolled his eyes as he stepped back from the bookshelves. "Whatever," he said, annoyance crisp in his voice. "But I say that it was better when you were gone. Your irresponsibility left the people with no one to look up to."

"You think I was _irresponsible_?" Blaze snarled. "I was _not_ irresponsible. For your information, I was battling Eggman Nega who had managed to steal all the Sol Emeralds, and then Sol Control came about and I was transported to a different world. When was the last time that _you_ battled him, hmm?"

"While you were gone," he went on as if he had not been challenged, "I took over the royal duties of the castle."

"Yes, I know," she muttered in annoyance. "Gardon told me the moment that I got back. And let me tell you that _you_ are not the king. _I_ am the princess, and _you_ have no right to take control of the kingdom and begin to ignite a rebellion among the people."

"But I have every right if they do not appreciate their leader," Ares replied with a smirk.

"They _never_ appreciate me," Blaze growled under her breath. "Just because I leave for two months does not give you the right to make everything become the way _you_ want it to be!"

Suddenly, Ares became livid with anger as he took a threatening step towards her, the deep ruby red flecks in his eyes beginning to glow dangerously, as if there was fire in his eyes, each of them like a piece of charcoal that has just come out of a burning fire.

"Everyone knows that _I_ should have been king," he snarled maliciously.

"Everyone?" Blaze shot back. "Because, from what I heard from Gardon, he did not entirely believe that you should have done what you did."

"Your father was unworthy of the throne," Ares continued to growl. "All of the people know that _my _father should have been the ruler."

"That's not true!" she lividly retorted, feeling her inner flames begin to travel down to her palms, begging to be released from her being, to help her and take out her anger on her offender. "My father was kind, unlike yours, who would only rule with threatening!"

It was true, what Blaze had said. Many years before, both Ares and Blaze's grandfather, King Ignitus, had two sons. The eldest one was named Fury, and the younger one was named Flame. Now, Fury was older than Flame by quite a bit, about six years, but both the boys had radically different personalities. Fury was heartless and cold, looking down contemptuously on those lower than him, and did not care for the people. Flame, however, was very protective of the people and would listen to them and help them, and he also had a strong sense of justice and had a kind and caring heart. While Fury loved to engage in war and got lost in the bloodlust of it, Flame preferred to negotiate and enter as few wars as possible so that they would not lose as many soldiers as they would if they simply ran into battle without trying to settle peace. Fury, who realized that many people preferred his brother over him, began to spread lies about his younger brother, and Flame would simply tell the people that they were untrue. However, some people were faithful followers of Fury, because they knew that he would become their king someday in the future.

Usually, the crown is passed onto the eldest child in the royal family. But, in this particular case, King Ignitus changed it. He chose his son, Flame, to carry on the legacy of the Kingdom of Sol, instead of Fury. This, of course, shocked many of the people, and Fury felt deep resentment for his father. When Flame became the king, he offered his elder brother to be his second-in-command, but Fury refused with venom. He left the castle and tried to stir up a rebellion against the king, and lusted for revenge against his father.

One night, Fury decided that it was time to avenge the unfair handing of the throne over to his younger brother. That very night, he went to the bedchambers where King Ignitus stood, and murdered him in his sleep.

However, none of the people knew this was the cause of King Ignitus's death. Many believed that a paid assassin had simply killed the resigned king, and they mourned over his loss, especially King Flame. But, the people managed to move on, while Fury continued to try and build up the rebellious army against his younger brother in his rage.

Eventually, Fury met Riana the Cat, and somehow fell in love with her, for Riana seemed to be his polar opposite. While most people cowered in fear as his intimidating presence, Riana stood her ground and simply learned about him for who he truly was. Riana eventually fell in love with Fury, and the two had a son together.

Their son had been Ares.

Not long after the boy had been born, Fury died in a blind battle against King Flame, and was felled by a fatal blow by one of the soldiers on the side of the true king. And, surprisingly, King Flame grieved over the death of his elder brother, even though he had been cruel to him throughout almost all of his life.

A little while after Fury's death, King Flame fell in love with a beautiful maiden named Diamond. She, too, fell in love with the king, and he instantly made her his queen when he married her, and the kingdom rejoiced during the marriage.

Meanwhile, Riana and Ares were living alone, but then, one of the soldiers found them and told the king of their whereabouts. King Flame instantly allowed them in his care, taking care of his sister-in-law and his nephew, and Riana was very grateful for the caring that was given upon her and her son. The people found out that Fury had a son, and they thought that this was a good omen, for, if the king and queen did not have any children, then Ares could take over the kingdom, and the legacy could live on.

However, that was not to be. Queen Diamond was soon to be with child, and, once again, an era of rejoicing came over the kingdom.

But that rejoicing was short-lived.

Riana died from a deadly sickness that always killed anyone it came in contact with. When she had been diagnosed with the virus, everyone had pitched in to try and help to find a cure to the woman who was like a second queen to them, but it was not to be, for she passed away. Her last request was that her son still be in the care of King Flame, knowing that he would nurture the boy into what was right, and King Flame easily accepted.

Ares did not take his mother's death well, and had blamed his uncle for not being able to save her. But King Flame was there to comfort him as the little boy grieved for Riana—none grieved for her like her son did.

Another time of grieving gripped the kingdom with its fearful talons as, when the Kingdom of Sol got into a war, when diplomacy had failed, that the news that their valiant King Flame had killed during the battle reached their ears. A great mourning overtook the kingdom, and many people believed that it was a very bad omen that the king had died before his child was born.

Amazingly, the next day, Queen Diamond gave birth to her child. It was a painful birth, and the queen did not have much strength, for she had been grieving for her lost husband, knowing that their child would never know his father.

A little princess was born that day—Blaze, the future ruler of the Kingdom of Sol.

Alas, Fate seemed to have many other horrors in store, for Blaze was unable to control her flames, and burst into them almost the moment she was born. Her mother managed to gently comfort her, and Queen Diamond breathlessly gave her a name. Then, Queen Diamond sang a gentle lullaby, and then, as she held her daughter in her arms, a silent tear fell down her cheek as she recognized the features that the little girl had in common with her beloved husband. And then, Death took its horrible claws and snatched her away from them.

The people were at a loss at what to do—their rulers were both dead! What were they supposed to do?

Then, they remembered Ares, and how much promise he had shown for ruling, and the people took him into their care. However, the people had also heard about Blaze's uncontrollable flames, how the little girl was unable to quench them, and they saw that as a threat. She was not cared for by the people.

As they grew up, both Ares and Blaze had radically different lifestyles. Ares was cared for by the people, who loved him and who truly believed that he should be the next king instead of Blaze. Blaze was cared for by the guards and nursemaids of the castle, the ones who believed that the little princess was meant to be their savior, for she had been the child of the king and queen.

Over time, Ares grew more and more powerful, and he always hated Blaze for having the kingdom, believing that he himself was the only one worthy for the ruling of the kingdom. Whenever he saw her, he would treat her with malice, spite, and hatred, believing that he should be in her place. He never helped her when she needed it, and the people left her alone also, forcing her to cope with her problems alone.

Blaze, when she innocently tried to speak to Ares and then would coldly get pushed away with a harsh insult, eventually began to close up, letting her hurt and her anger at her cousin show. He did not understand her problem—her flames were just so powerful that it was extremely hard for her to control them, for she did not have a tutor like he had. His own tutor had been her father, King Flame, who taught the young boy how to control his power. Blaze had to learn by herself, and was not aided by anyone.

This led to true animosity when they were old enough. Ares was seventeen now, and Blaze was fourteen, and Blaze always masked her true hurt with the anger that she felt towards him for not helping her, and he always treated her with cool hatred.

"You know that _I_ was destined to be the ruler of the Kingdom of Sol," Ares snarled at her as he and Blaze continued to argue, and his own flames came at his palms as he flared at her.

Blaze's fists ignited instantly. "That does not have any relevance to the way that you have treated me all these years!" she cried out, her hurt making her voice raw, and her anger making it scratchy.

"You deserved everything," Ares growled, glaring fiercely at her.

"What did I ever do to you to have you hate me so?" Blaze demanded to know.

"You're _alive_," Ares hissed in her ear. "_That's_ my problem—the very fact that you are even _existing_ has always been a problem. _You_ are the _thorn_ in my side."

"Good—we finally agree on something about each other," Blaze growled back, her pain being buried by her very livid fury.

Ares let out a wordless growl, and then, he suddenly regained his cool and calm composure as he leaned back, just glaring at her a bit coolly with his eyes.

"So? Are you leaving?" Blaze nearly snarled.

"I may, but, then again, I rather like living in the palace and may frequently visit," Ares smirked. "Well, see you, Blaze."

And, with that, he left Blaze in the library while she cursed under her breath.

Why did _he_ always have to mess everything up? Why did _he_ always remind her of how she was uncontrollable, of how much the people would rather her not be the princess, that they would rather have _him_ as a ruler? Did they not realize that Ares was cruel, that he truly did not have the people's best interests in mind, and that he was not the rightful Guardian of the Sol Emeralds? _He_ was not the one who always risked death when he battled Eggman Nega—_she_ was the one who put her life on the line to save those precious gems that meant almost everything to her. They were the last true traces of her lineage, besides the necklace that she wore around her neck.

That golden necklace had been her mothers, and Blaze always wore it. She was never seen without it, except when she was sleeping. It was the last thing that her mother left her besides the gentle, sweet lullaby that had been sung to Blaze while she was still an infant.

Sighing, Blaze gently touched the beautiful necklace, before leaving the library behind, heading upstairs to her room. When she reached the floor that her room was on, she heard gentle snoring, and she peeked into the room that she had lent to Sonic.

The blue hedgehog was sprawled over the blue covers as he tossed and turned a bit in his sleep. His snoring was light and gentle, not that loud, obnoxious snoring most people thought that they heard. His eyes were closed peacefully, and he often twitched in his sleep, probably dreaming about running.

Blaze smiled, fondly shaking her head. Sonic could _never_ stay still, even while he was sleeping, and it was something that rather amused her.

Quietly, she went past his room, and entered hers. Quickly, she changed into her comfortable dark purple nightgown, sighing as she relished in the feel of something other than her traditional coat and full-length white body suit that she always wore.

Then, she went under the covers and soon fell into peaceful slumber.

**DAYS LATER, ELSEWHERE, OVER WITH THALIA AND ARIA…**

"That's it! You've got the hang of it now!" Thalia cheered Aria on as Aria successfully managed to counter Thalia's blows, with the specific move that she had taught her. It was a sweeping move that made the opponent confused, thinking that you were going to strike elsewhere as she truly aimed for somewhere else.

"All right, that's enough!" Thalia said, and Aria broke away from her tutor, gasping for her breath. She wiped a beat of sweat off of her brow as she collapsed on the ground, shaking her head as she regained her bearings after a few moments.

It was the ninth day into their training, and Thalia had been very kind with the young sea-green cat, not instantly making her do the hard things. Aria already knew how to fight, but Thalia still had many things to teach her, such as moves that would throw her opponent off. What Thalia was going for were graceful movements that seemed like they could be anything, and the opponent that she would be facing would have no idea how to retaliate, how you were actually going to strike out at them. Truthfully, it worked wonders, and Thalia had no doubt that Aria was going to master the forms perfectly.

"You did great, Aria," Thalia praised.

"Thanks," Aria grinned, still slightly breathless as she looked at her teacher with pride shining in her gaze. She usually didn't fight like this—most of the time, she was able to use her power over song to fight her enemies (a stupid way to do it in her opinion, but it got the job done anyway). But learning how to throw off your opponent was one of the most valuable things to learn, and Thalia's whole style was to be aimed at that.

"We can take a break know," Thalia said, and Aria, exhausted, let her back hit the ground as she lied down on the grass, staring up at the sky. This made Thalia smile a bit as she shook her head fondly.

"You know, this reminds me of…" Aria trailed off, her voice catching in her throat as she looked away, her eyes becoming slightly distant.

"What does this remind you of, dear one?" Thalia asked gently as she looked over at her pupil.

Aria took in a small, ragged breath as she shut her eyes against all the horrible images that were threatening to come back to her. "This…this makes me remember what I sometimes did with my mom."

Thalia was quiet as Aria let out a small sob, a tiny sound of pain as the younger cat sat up once more, her elbows resting on her crossed legs as she looked forward sightlessly at nothing. Her eyes were haunted with the things of the past, things which she had rather not wished to see…

"Do you want to tell me what's wrong?" Thalia offered softly.

Aria sighed, but it was a choked sound. No one truly knew about her past but Lance and Rose, and even what they knew was vague. But she wanted at least one person to tell everything too—she hadn't even told Shadow the story, mostly because she hadn't endured nearly as much pain as he had, as he watched his one and only friend die right before his very eyes while he was helpless to do so, watched her gruesome death. Aria had just felt that her own story was not that important that she needed other's pity.

But she wanted nothing more than to tell Thalia about her past.

"Years ago, when I was still a little girl…" Aria's voice cracked a bit as she looked away, unable to meet the beautiful purple gaze of Thalia. "It was before I ever met Lance and Rose. My father died a few days after I was born, leaving my mother alone to raise me. Her name was Sirenetta, and she had the most beautiful voice imagined. She was like me, and had passed on the gift of singing along to me."

Aria took in another shaky breath before continuing. "When I was around five years old, she told me what I was. I was one of the Sirens, one of the daughters of the first Siren. The gift of song to truly control someone was given to the daughters, but, if sons were born to the descendant of the first Siren, they did have beautiful voices as well, but not nearly as entrancing as the girls. The first Siren that had the beautiful voice was named Arietta, and she was given that power because her song had simply calmed an old woman, who was a sorceress. She sang from the depths of her heart, and that warmed the sorceress' heart. She then gave Arietta the gift of music.

"My mother told me this, and began to teach me how to harness the use of my voice, how to channel whatever emotions I wanted the person to feel into my singing so that I could either calm them down, make them fearful, etcetera. She also taught me how to fight a little, and she was gentle like you. But then…but then came the epidemic.

"When I was five, an epidemic spread out, and it was a terminal illness. There was no cure at all, none that anyone knew of, and the outbreak was so sudden that no one was prepared for it. It suddenly just…_came_, and whoever it struck would feel terrible pain before they eventually came. And…and my mother caught the sickness.

"I was told to stay away from her, because it was also a contagious disease. But I…I had to see her, and the people eventually let me see my mother. She was in horrible condition when I saw her—barely clinging onto life, her face haggard and pale, the life slowly dimming out of her silver eyes…" Aria's eyes began to well up with tears, but she kept them back. "I ran up to her…I remember I was crying as I clung to her hand…and she turned to look at me, trying to be as reassuring as she could possibly be. She tried to soothe me, but I was barely able to hear her, and I couldn't let her go…

"Her last wish was that I don't abuse my power over song, that I don't simply use it to get what I want. At that point, I was nearly hysterical, and I promised her that I would never, ever use my powers for my own selfish desires. She then smiled at me, telling me that I was her living legacy, and that she knew that someday I would do something great. She told me she loved me…and then she was gone."

The tears had begun to silently leak out from her eyes, and she began to cry heartbrokenly as she placed her face in her palms, the horrible memories of that fateful day suddenly coming back. Seeing her mother so weak, knowing that she was completely helpless to stop her from dying, from leaving her…

Thalia was silent during the whole story, looking at Aria with sorrow in her gaze.

"I am sorry, dearest," Thalia murmured gently as she went over to the grieving sea-green cat and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I…I…" Aria was unable to form a sentence in her grief as she simply cried, and Thalia held the girl close, waiting for her sadness to pass as she reassuringly stroked Aria's hair, running her fingers through it.

"It's all right, child, I'm here," Thalia told her softly as she held the shuddering Aria in her arms.

When Aria regained her bearings, she looked at Thalia through eyes that were still slightly red-rimmed and shiny, but she managed a small, grateful smile. "Thalia…you remind me so much of my mother, it's almost uncanny. She would've done the same thing. And I'm thankful for that. Thank you for…for listening to me."

Thalia smiled, holding the girl's shoulders. "I am glad that I am helping you with your pain," Thalia told her. "I will do whatever I can to make you feel better, you can be well assured of that."

Aria nodded, hugging Thalia once more, and the elder cat embraced the younger one in return.

"Now," Thalia said when Aria pulled away from her, "why don't we go to another place to relax for a bit?"

"Can we go to the meadow?" Aria asked eagerly.

Thalia nodded gently, and they both stood up as Aria gripped onto Thalia's hand, waiting to be teleported along with her to their intended location.

After a few seconds, the two gently faded away from the rocky, barren area that they had used for training. The only thing that showed that either of them had been there were the slightly damp rocks that had tears of pain shed on them by a girl who had lost her mother when she was young, and all she had been able to do was watch helplessly as the one person she had cared about was taken away slowly right in front of her eyes.

**ELSEWHERE, WITH PHOEBUS AND TAILS…**

Tails closed his sky-blue eyes as he concentrated all of his strength into his hands, remembering what his mentor had told him to do as his hands hovered over the wounded bird's wing.

_Harness your inner energy,_ he had said. _Focus your energy into your hands,_ _and then think of warmth, like warm sunshine._

The little fox reached for the energy that he had within his being and focused it on his palms, and he felt a slightly familiar glow and heard a small hum in the air.

_Then, you gently allow the warm energy to leak out from your hands and go out to the injury._

It was almost as if the white hedgehog was telling Tails right then and there as he remembered the words with surprising clarity. Tails focused, allowing his energy to slowly come out of his hands and travel to the bird.

_Assess the injury. Then, imagine the injury gently coming together to be fixed. If it's a broken bone, feel the bone be put together again in the exact right way. If it's a pulled muscle, feel the muscle go back to the way it is supposed to be. And if you are unsure of how the animal's anatomy works, then you simply let the power come out of you and allow time to pass, and the injury will become healed on its own accord. This way will take slightly longer, though, but is just as effective, and you will be able to tell when it is done._

Tails wasn't exactly sure what was wrong with the wing, but, from what he could gather, it was a pulled muscle, probably because the bird had snagged it on something and, in panic, had tried to get out. It probably had succeeded, but had hurt itself in the process.

_And then, you gently dim the energy from your hands and let go of the wound, and it should be fully healed._

Remembering what he had been told, Tails gently took back the energy that he had let the bird borrow after he felt that the wound was healed. He looked down at the little aqua bird as he opened his eyes, and the bird leapt to her feet, twittering happily as she tried out her wing. It was good as new!

The happy bird chirped her thanks before she took off into the sky, chirping happily all the way as she twisted and turned in flight. Tails smiled as he waved good-bye to the bird as well.

"Well done!" came the voice of his teacher from the thickness of the forest, and Tails turned around to meet Phoebus' bright green eyes.

"Thank you, Phoebus," Tails said, glowing with pride from the praise that he had received.

"I am surprised that you mastered the technique of healing so quickly," Phoebus told the orange fox with approval in his tone. "And, even then, not everyone can heal completely. There have been plenty of times that others have tried the technique and simply made it slightly better, not completely healing the wound but not leaving it raw and untreated either."

Tails continued to beam with the compliments that he was receiving.

"Did you have other pupils?" Tails asked curiously as he thought Phoebus' words over in his head. He had realized that his teacher was speaking as if he had tried to teach others the same technique.

"Not exactly," Phoebus replied, shaking his head. The afternoon sunlight reflected off of the bright golden streaks in his quills and made him seem to be made from pure sunbeams even more now, the sunshine reflecting off of the golden band around his head. "I am one of the oldest of Iridessa's soldiers—the only ones older than me are Malachim and Uriel. She usually creates us when she sees fit, usually if a small area needed protecting. And then, she lets us continue with our own lives and only summons us when needed. Malachim and Uriel have been simply going around, and I have been enjoying the sights of different words.

"As such, since I was around for a while, I sometimes met a few others who I would deem worthy to learn the art of healing. I would teach them, and mostly it would take quite a while for them to learn. And, as I told you, some of them were not able to completely heal, either. But a few were like you—understanding and able to heal completely. Yet, none of them have caught on as quickly as you have—it has only been a little over a week, and yet you have the technique completely mastered!" Phoebus was smiling proudly at his young charge.

"It was only because of your great teaching," Tails answered modestly.

But Phoebus shook his head again. "Tails, it is much more than simply my teaching you of the technique," he said. "It is also because of your hidden talent, your desire to become a better, stronger person, and your kind, pure heart that allows you access to such power. These are even more reasons to why I am becoming positive that I made the right decision in choosing you to be my pupil."

Tails blushed a bit at the great praise that he was receiving from this powerful person, ducking his head down.

Phoebus smiled. "If that did not drain you, then I have another technique that I would like to show you," he told Tails.

"I'm ready," Tails answered instantly and willingly.

Phoebus nodded at the fox's willingness, and then he began to speak to Tails.

"Now, I am going to teach you something that I have not taught anyone for millennia—the only one that I taught this special technique has long since been gone from this time. I am going to teach you how to control sunlight and use it for your advantage."

**BACK WITH SONIC AND BLAZE…**

It had been a little over a week since the whole run-in with Ares that Blaze had very much disliked. Yet, since their heated conversation in the library shortly following her return to her home, she had barely seen him, and for that, she was grateful.

The day after they had returned, Sonic had instantly noticed that something was wrong with Blaze, remembering the way that she had acted the day before and the slightly haunted look that she wore now. He then gently asked her what was wrong, and Blaze had confessed to him about Ares, since there was always the off change that the blue hedgehog would run into the vicious red cat that was her cousin.

To say that Sonic had been astonished with the fact that Blaze had a cousin would be an understatement. He had never known that Blaze had something even close to a sibling, and yet, with the way that her voice held back spite in it, he had a feeling that the two didn't get along so well. When she was done telling him about her cousin, he hadn't ever brought it up again, and for that Blaze was grateful.

During those days, Sonic continued to explore as Blaze showed him around, and sometimes they would train in preparation for the inevitable battle between The Darkness. Yet, they seemed to have plenty of free time before they would even have to truly begin to worry about the monster coming to the world because it was still drained from trying to take over Sonic's world, so Blaze and Sonic had quite a bit of time to themselves, just to relax.

Sonic was running down the halls, preparing to dash into the kitchens to grab something to eat. After a long morning run, he was famished, and he knew that the cooks in the kitchen were _amazing_.

The one thing that he hadn't expected was to run into Ares.

Now, Sonic saw exactly who Blaze was talking to him about, and he suppressed a shudder at the cold blankness of his eyes, those dark eyes that were devoid of anything but cool calculation and anger. To say that he was creeped out would be a pretty close assumption to how he was feeling.

Sonic stopped his running to see Ares, and Ares glared at him with those gray eyes.

"So, you are Sonic the Hedgehog," he stated, and even his _voice_ was cold and filled with almost nothing but spite.

"Yeah," Sonic replied, shrugging one shoulder as he turned to face him completely.

"Are you the one whose world Blaze went to?" Ares asked him coldly.

"Yeah, but it was all because of a mess up with the Sol Emeralds," Sonic replied, defending her. He knew why Ares was asking him that question—so that he could blame Blaze for leaving them. Blaze had even told him about how Ares always said that she left her world on purpose.

"Hmph," Ares said, as if he didn't fully believe what he had just been told by the blue hedgehog. And then, he continued down the hallways of the castle as if that brief encounter had never happened. Sonic looked after him, confused, then let out an irritated sound as he shook his head and continued with his previous mission of getting something to eat.

Meanwhile, Blaze had gone off to the beach so that she could regain her bearings after yet another encounter with her cousin. One of her knees was bent as the other was extended out in front of her, and her right elbow was resting on her upraised knee as she simply watched the sunset, a small sigh escaping from her lips as she shook her head.

Ares had just accused her of being so weak that she needed another to lie in her stead, leading her to believe that he had finally run into Sonic. She had known that it would be inevitable, but she had thought that Ares wouldn't even bother to engage Sonic in polite conversation. Obviously, he had said something that had not been true, and Sonic, like a true friend, had stood up for her.

Blaze wondered why Ares seemed to believe that having friends made you weak. On the contrary, having friends and friendship was one of the most powerful emotions that you could possibly have, one of the most powerful things the universe has to reckon with. She remembered when she had first learned that lesson when she arrived on Sonic's world, being told how to unlock the true power of the Emeralds. With the power of friendship, the Sol Emeralds would never lose their glow.

That time had been the first time that she transformed into Burning Blaze as the power of the Sol Emeralds flooded through her, giving her power that she had never felt before in her life. And all of this raw power was an emotion that she had been denied of for most of her life, the caring for other people and having others truly care about you.

Closing her eyes, she simply drank in the scents of the ocean, the salty tang in the slightly humid air as she simply sat there in solitude, a slight feeling of peace coming over her at the quietness of everything. All hell had broken loose since she had returned to the kingdom—papers needed to be filled out, duties needed to be performed, and certain people had to be taught their place and kept in line. All of the stress made a girl just want to be by herself and have a few minutes alone without hearing people call for her name all the time and need to ask her something, and going to the beach was the perfect place, where there was no sound but the gentle, foaming waves and the breeze from the sea.

Just then, a familiar gust of wind brushed by her left side, and she smiled a bit, already knowing who it was.

"Did you get in trouble, Sonic?" she asked, turning towards him with a mischievous look in her eye.

"Nah, I just felt like coming out here," Sonic answered nonchalantly, and she sent him a pointed look to make sure that he wasn't lying before she returned to her vigil of simply gazing over out at the sea.

"It's nice out here," Sonic commented as he looked around, clasping his hands behind his head as he leaned against a palm tree behind him.

"Mm-hm," Blaze agreed, absentmindedly tracing pictures and designs in the rough sand.

"Hey, Blaze…" Sonic trailed off, taking back what he was going to ask.

Blaze looked at him curiously. "What is it?" she asked him, an eyebrow raised in question.

"Why…why are things to bad between you and Ares? I mean, I thought that your dad was the one who helped Ares when his own parents died," Sonic said quietly as he looked down, not wanting to get her angry.

But, to his surprise, Blaze simply sighed in defeat, and there was hidden pain and hurt in her golden gaze under the bitter resentment that she held for the person whom she called a cousin. "Yes, my father did help him, but he is angry at me for being the princess. He wants to be king himself—he believes that he deserves it more than me." She looked away, adding softly, "And, maybe, he's right."

"Blaze, don't say things like that," Sonic said, looking at her sternly. When she wouldn't meet his gaze, he gently cupped his hand under her chin and forced her to look at him in the eye. "Look, I don't give a crap about what Ares thinks he does or doesn't deserve, but I know that you deserve to be the princess. You're a good ruler, you listen to the people, and you help whenever you can. Hell, back in _my_ world you were just as good as here, and they weren't even your subjects to protect. Blaze, you're a good person, and I seriously doubt that Ares could do a better job than you."

"But he was always able to control his flames, Sonic," Blaze argued, frustrated at herself.

"So? You learned how to as well, it just took a little bit longer than it did for him," Sonic retorted, not letting go of her jaw.

"The people would rather have _him_ as their ruler," Blaze shot back. "While I was gone, he was beginning to instigate a small rebellion against me, saying that those who wanted to follow the _true_ king who would not leave them would rise up and attack the castle. And they would've succeeded if we had showed up only a few days later."

"Well, Ares is an idiot and a lying, manipulative son of a bitch," Sonic nearly growled out, not angry at her, but the one who was placing so many seeds of doubt and self-resentment in her mind, letting go of her jaw then as he looked at her, and she did not break his gaze.

"Look, Sonic, everything would simply have been less complicated if I had not been born," Blaze ground out through clenched teeth as she gripped the sand between her fingers, angry at herself. "I know that. If I had not been born, then the people would not have had to worry about an uncontrollable girl's flames harming them, they would have a steady, controlled ruler—"

"Who wouldn't give a damn about them," Sonic fought back, trying to make the lilac cat see reason.

"It's what some of them obviously would have preferred!" she nearly shouted. "If I hadn't been around, then the Sol Emeralds might not have gotten mixed up in everything because Eggman Nega might have found something different to chase after!"

"I seriously doubt that," Sonic argued, looking at her pointedly.

"Rrrrgh! That's not the _point_, Sonic! The point is that everything would have been simpler if I was not here!" Blaze hissed. "If I was never around, then maybe Ares wouldn't be so filled with hate, and I would not have gone to your world, and if I had never gone to your world along with the Sol Emeralds which Eggman had stolen, then your world wouldn't've been nearly destroyed!"

"But that's the reason why it's good that you_ are_ here," he said gently, his tone quieter now. He looked at her, and her fiery eyes were demanding an explanation from him.

"What if Eggman and Eggman Nega still figured out a way to get the Emeralds? I know that I wouldn't've been able to beat 'em on my own," Sonic told her seriously.

"That is the _only_ good thing that came out of me coming to your world. Admit it—I caused more harm than good," she growled.

"That's not true, Blaze," Sonic said gently, looking at her with an unreadable emotion in his eye. "Blaze, you've done so much, and yet you don't even see all you've done. You were someone for Cream to look up to besides Amy, and it was good for her to know a calm, level-headed person. You were a good friend to Tails, and you became like a sister to Knuckles and Shadow, someone that they wanted to protect, even after the rough ways that you guys started out. Blaze, you changed their lives for the better."

Blaze's look was only slightly disbelieving as she watched him curiously.

"Blaze, you've changed _all_ of our lives for the better," Sonic confessed. "Everyone back at home, they're all grateful that you came. And me, I have the greatest partner to fight with, one of the strongest people I've ever met by my side."

Now, her eyes were wide as he continued to speak, and she did not interrupt.

"You're the strongest, toughest girl that I've ever met," the cerulean hedgehog went on. "You're loyal and will do anything for the people you care about. Under all that stoic appearance, if you can get under that shell, you see one of the most caring people in the world."

Blaze was truly at a loss for words at his sudden confession, looking at him with awe, her hand over her mouth.

"I don't care what other people have said about you—you're one of the kindest, most considerate, and strongest people in the world," Sonic finished. "Without you here, the people would be misguided, they just have no idea how lucky they are to have you for their leader."

"Sonic…" Blaze trailed off, that single word full of the questions that she was unable to truly ask him.

"I just want you to know that you are the furthest thing from a burden that is possible," he told her. "You've changed all of us…and that includes me." He looked at her once more, that intoxicating emerald green gaze full of an emotion that Blaze was unable to name as sudden realization seemed to dawn in those deep green depths, a spark of something, as if he knew it all along but if he just realized it this moment.

In reality, that was exactly what was going through his head. He had just realized something, something that had been nagging at the back of his mind for the longest time now, and it was suddenly recognized. He had always known it, but he had never truly been able to acknowledge it—until now, that is.

"Blaze, I know that I'll never meet another girl like you in my life—never meet a girl as special as you," he whispered, looking deep into her eyes, which were wide with surprise at his statements. "You've made me feel complete, and I know that no girl could ever make me feel that way, never in a million years."

"What…what're you trying to say?" That question was asked in a simple breath as she looked at him, her hand over her heart.

"Blaze, I…what I'm trying to say is that I…I really…I want you to know that…" He was fumbling over the words, but then, when he met her eyes once again, all the fumbling ceased, and the words came out of his mouth so easily it would've been impossible to tell that he had been awkwardly figuring out how to say them before.

"Blaze, I've never met any girl as tough, beautiful, special, and interesting as you. And I want you to know that, no matter what, I'll always be here for you, that I'll always be there for you to talk to, to protect you, to be there when you need it. If you need to tell me a secret, I'll listen and I'll never give it away. If you just need me to be there for you, I'll be there in a flash. If you need someone to confide in, I'll be that person." Then, his voice softened a bit as he spoke four more simple words that simply blew her away.

"Blaze, I love you."

There was a moment of silence as she processed what he had just told her, a millisecond for the words to make sense in her head.

However, it was only a millisecond.

In the next millisecond, Blaze had launched herself into Sonic's arms and placed her lips on his in a sudden kiss.

For a moment, Sonic's eyes widened in surprise, and then they closed along with Blaze's as he instantly wrapped his arms around her waist, bringing her closer to him, and she wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers getting tangled in his blue quills. It was a passionate kiss—the release of all the emotions that Blaze had felt over the years came crashing into her, and they were replaced for a few moments by complete happiness and utter bliss, and Sonic eagerly responded to the kiss as he made it deeper. There was nothing to stop the two, seeming to be nothing at all that could separate these two. Sonic removed one of his hands from around her waist, only to gently place it behind her neck, inclining her head for more, and she did not object. Their tongues fought in that ancient, timeless dance as they held each other close, never wanting to let go of each other.

When they finally pulled away, they were breathless, each other's eyes shining with their love for each other.

"Sonic…" Blaze breathed, looking up at him. "I…I love you to," she murmured, knowing that he had probably already figured that out.

Sonic grinned for a moment, knowing what she had thought, and then _he_ was the one who instigated the kiss this time, leaning down and claiming her lips with his own once more. Blaze lost herself once again in the complete, utter bliss of the kiss as he held her close to his strong chest, and she threaded her fingers through his quills once more as he brought her even closer, if possible, and they both relished in the feeling that the kiss gave them, the feeling that there was nothing else in the world but themselves, that they both were locked in a timeless bubble that could never be popped.

The bright colors of the setting sun illuminated their silhouettes, two people truly in love as they kissed without abandon, not caring if anyone else saw. The sun and the sea were their only audience, however, but it did not matter.

For once, everything was completely perfect for both of them.

They had each found the perfect match, exactly what they needed in their lives. Sonic found someone that was just as strong as him and that would not simply be a burden and slow him down, yet, she was also someone that he could care for, that he could still protect, someone that would confide in him. And Blaze had found someone who truly accepted her for _who_ she was, the one that had seen the girl hidden inside of her. Vaguely, Blaze remembered a conversation with Rouge about what showed a guy that he liked you, where she had said that they found out who the real you was, and how the white bat had instantly believed that she had someone she was in love with. Now, Blaze knew that, yes, there _had_ been someone for her. That person had been Sonic. All along, they had been meant for each other, and had not truly realized it until now.

And it was complete, utter happiness and perfection.

And even _that_ was an understatement.

Because no words could ever capture the magnitude of their feelings for each other, no mind could possibly ever fathom the pure emotions they felt, never in a thousand lifetimes, never in a million years.

**OK! So, I put a lot of sweat and tears into this chapter, thought about it DAMN hard, and I hope that it came out as good as I wanted it to! I'm not sure if I'll be able to update for a while, but I'll try to get something up in the next two weeks! You're probably all like "YOU SUCK!" but sorry, that's all I have. I'll try my best to update as fast as I can.**

**Anyways, hope that you liked this chapter! Because many of you have been requesting it, it was the Sonaze moment! Yeah! You're probably saying "IT'S ABOUT DAMN TIME!", but I wanted to drag it out as long as I possibly could. :)**

**Anyway, peeps, please remember to continue to read and review! Thanks to all of you for your undying support! Your reviews really make my day!**

**Oh, and also, to answer Ghostkid33's question: Yes, I kinda took the name Iridessa from that, because I thought it made sense, because it reminded me of the word 'iridescent' and I also liked the name and fell in love with it when I first saw the first movie (though it kinda gets worse and worse with each one they make in my opinion). But, yes, I admit that it helped me a bit.**

**Anyways, people, thanks a lot! Hope this is enough until I manage to update again! :)**


	18. Be Afraid of the Dark

**I'M NOT DEAD! YAY! :)**

**Three side notes: One, my long list of reasons why I was unable to update FOREVER is on the bottom; two, for some reason, fanfiction is eating up the spaces between italicized words now (at least with MY stuff). If you have read any of my other stuff and seen the thoughts simply a big jumble of letters before I fixed it, I am terribly sorry. From now on, I probably won't put their thoughts in italics anymore…but whatever! Side note number three: one of you lovely reviewers requested that I post sex in this chapter. The reason why I can't is this—I am a virgin, and I do not know what it really feels like to have sex. I do not plan on losing my virginity any time soon, either, so no sex in this, or else I'd have to bring up the rating and everything! So sorry if that disappoints—I don't have a problem READING about sex, it's just that I can't write it because I've never experienced it, in all honesty.**

**But anyways, it's not like most of you actually give a shit about all that crap up there. So, here's the story! Hope the wait was worth it! XD**

Chapter 18

Rivulets of sweat ran down Shadow's forehead as he glared at his opponent, wiping away some of the blood that had begun to trickle down from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. He spat on the ground to rid his tongue of the foul, metallic taste of it, watching as it left a little red stain among many others that littered the barren and rocky soil of the "training" grounds. His lungs were begging for air, but he was not going to show weakness as his ruby red eyes stared fearlessly at his adversary. Chaos energy crackled around him as his anger intensified with the smirk that was on his opponent's face, and, with a livid snarl, the ebony hedgehog lunged for the white hedgehog who was right in front of him.

As Shadow channeled his fury into his attacks at his offender, Janus blocked the blows with a little more effort than he had been before, because Shadow was attacking with significantly more power now. The warrior made from light dodged and blocked the fierce barrage of punches, kicks, and energy blasts that Shadow was raining down upon him with a vengeance. Frustrated growls escaped from Shadow's throat when he missed, and that only made him more powerful as the white energy flared around him.

They had been at this for a little over a week, with Janus not being soft at all towards Shadow. The black hedgehog was all too glad to comply to the fierce training regimen that he had set up for them, determined to prove to others that he was the Ultimate Life Form, and that no one was truly his master.

That was when Janus suddenly began to attack him viciously, and it took almost all of Shadow's energy to block the fierce attacks before he was able to counterattack with his own moves.

The two barely rested, and when they did rest it was usually in companionable silence—neither Shadow nor Janus usually had much to say. They would sleep, and then they would awaken early and train fiercely. Janus would only allow Shadow to see Aria every day for less than half an hour before returning to the rigorous sparring between the two.

Now, Shadow was getting officially pissed off as he continued to lunge for his teacher, and Janus blocked with more effort, and attacked with more ferocity than he had been before.

"The enemy will never give you a chance to catch your breath!" he told Shadow, who simply growled in response as he continued to try and hit the evasive white hedgehog who was his sparring partner.

You _didn't_ think that I knew that? Shadow thought as he managed to get in a blow to Janus' face, punching his cheek and making his head whip to the side of his face. Then, after he took a moment to bask in his triumph, Janus quickly retaliated, and Shadow was knocked off of his feet as he fell to the ground, his mouth getting full of dust. Instantly, he leapt up, spitting the dry dust out of his mouth.

"_Never_ get too cocky," Janus warned his pupil in a serious voice. "Overconfidence eventually leads to your own downfall."

"Spare me the damn proverbs," Shadow grunted with a roll of his eyes as he lunged once again for Janus.

"It's not a proverb," Janus replied in a clipped tone. "I simply speak from personal experience."

That sentence actually made Shadow falter a bit in shock as he jumped away from Janus, landing far enough to be safe from another attack as he looked at his teacher strangely. "Personal experience?" he repeated, his tone suggesting that he would like an explanation.

Janus looked at his apprentice, scrutinizing every detail of the taciturn ebony hedgehog who reminded him so much of himself. Janus was one of the newest of Iridessa's soldiers—the only one that was younger than him was Thalia, the youngest of all of them. When he was young, he had been slightly rebellious, but he had also been good. Like Shadow, he, too, was determined to prove his power and show that he did not need to rely completely on others, and he also got cocky when he got a blow in on his enemy.

And that mistake had damn near cost him his existence.

Janus sat down, and Shadow followed his lead as the elder hedgehog set his brown eyes on Shadow's own, thinking about how he was going to possibly explain his folly. He decided to start with the basics.

"It was not long after I was created by The Light and I was allowed to live my own life…"

**-FLASHBACK-**

"Our victor, once again, is Janus!" the announcer said as Janus once again knocked an opponent out of the ring, emerging the triumphant victor once again.

After Iridessa had created him and given him life to help fight Cimmerian's henchmen, Janus had not wished to live a life in peace like the elders of The Light's warriors had. Malachim preferred to travel alone, simply wandering and helping a few bystanders; Uriel aided in wars that needed to be fought and helped the side that was just, but made sure there were minimal losses; Phoebus liked to show himself to others, teaching people the arts of music most of the time, and also, rarely, the arts of healing, because he enjoyed being around mortals; and Numina was a gentle person who helped mothers with their children. Janus didn't want any of that. He wanted to show off his power to the world, knowing that he was powerful and wanting to brag to others about it.

Like the others, he knew that he could only be destroyed by a creature of darkness, or another one of The Light's soldiers—but none of them would dream of striking out on the other. Janus knew that he was perfectly fine, and wanted to have some fun and adventure in his life.

So, he had decided to become a boxing champion. He traveled around the world, competing in tournaments and always emerging the victor. He didn't even have to use his full strength when he fought mortals—they were simply easy to beat for him. Competitors from different planets would come to challenge him, but they all went away with a few injuries, but the main blow was to their pride. Janus was actually having a fine time—his winnings allowed him to live a life of luxury and experience what mortals felt. All he had to do was conceal his power, and he simply appeared as a white hedgehog with no special qualities whatsoever. It was actually quite nice.

"Does anyone else wish to challenge the undefeated champion?" the announcer asked the crowd, and you could visibly see people shrinking back from the mere idea of going against Janus. The white hedgehog smirked—he was going to be the reigning champion once more.

And then, a voice spoke up from the crowd. "I'll go," someone announced, and the voice, strangely, sent chills down Janus' spine. The voice seemed cold and detached, and on the verge of insanity. The owner of the voice revealed itself, and the strangest feeling of uneasiness came over Janus when the figure stepped up to the ring.

He wasn't an animal that Janus was actually able to describe—all he _could_ say about it was that the figure looked solely like a demon. He did not have fur, but his skin was completely red, the dark crimson color of freshly spilled blood. His black hair was as pitch black as the dead of night, the color of coal, and curled a bit around his head, ending right by his ears. Out of his head were two small horns that curved upwards, and they were an extremely dark red that was darker than the color of his skin. His black clothing simply seemed to emphasize the fact that he was dangerous. A thin tail lashed around quickly, agitatedly behind him. It was long and thin, and it ended in a thick-headed arrow shape that seemed deadly sharp. His face looked like a human's, but his eyes were the frightening part of him. Like his hair, they were completely pitch back, and the whites of his eyes were pure, pure white, making the blackness of his irises stand out more, so that he appeared not to have any iris at all, just all pupils for his eye. Thick black eyebrows rested above those narrow, calculating eyes, and a sharp nose was set above thin, barely noticeable lips. He snarled a bit at Janus, and the white hedgehog caught sight of gleaming white teeth that were sharp, glinting in the afternoon sun, his canines much longer than normal teeth should be.

It was like meeting a creature from hell.

Those black eyes bored into Janus' own brown ones with such intensity that Janus felt that this creature knew things about him that _he_ didn't even know about himself.

"I know what you are," the creature hissed lowly, looking at Janus with hatred in those dark eyes. He wore a strange, evil smirk as he added, "Warrior of Light."

Janus fought hard to maintain his composure, not going to give anything away to this demon.

"My name is Azazel," the creature continued, his voice so low that the others would not hear. "And I'm _just_ like _you_, made by an entity of light or darkness. But I'm more powerful, for I was created by Darkness, not pathetic Light."

There were murmurs among the crowd, wondering exactly what was going on, unable to hear the hushed, one-sided conversation.

"I think that it's better if we settle this without any witnesses, don't you?" Azazel asked, an evil, crazed grin on his face, and before Janus had time to blink, people in the crowd were letting out screams as fires and explosions suddenly began to erupt around the building. People were dying all around him—

—and it was all happening in one single millisecond. Janus was too shocked to react at first, but then he realized that, somehow, Azazel was causing all of this chaos to happen. Furious at the lives that were being lost to this monster's carelessness, Janus let out a roar as he lunged for his attacker.

The two fought a heated battle—Azazel was matching Janus blow for blow, and they were doing it in full sight of whatever onlookers remained. The rest of them were killed by Azazel mercilessly. It was almost, to any spectator, as if an angel from heaven and a demon from hell were having a battle, and, in a way, they were correct.

"You are a fool, boy," Azazel hissed as he and Janus never got a hit on the other, always to block the other's attacks. "You went around flaunting your power—if you had led inconspicuous lives like the other warriors, you would not have been caught. But now…"

Janus barely managed to dodge the punch that had such force that it could probably have ripped his head off.

"What the hell's your problem?" Janus growled out through clenched teeth, having a hard time concealing his true power.

"_I'm_ not the one with the problem," Azazel replied, easily dodging another of Janus' attacks. He smirked when he could feel that the white hedgehog was unlocking his true reserves of power, allowing a bit of it to go free before he shut the dam against his raw energy once more. Two could play at that game, and Azazel raised his energy once more.

"If you're not the one with the problem," Janus panted out as he barely missed another fierce attack, "then who is?" He managed to get a solid punch in on Azazel's face, drawing black blood from his lip. Janus smirked in satisfaction—first blood usually drew the winnings, he knew. He was going to win this battle, and already wore an air of haughtiness as he prepared to end this battle quickly, knowing that he would not need all of his power to finish off someone like this.

All that cockiness suddenly wore off when Azazel began to suddenly rain hell upon him, a fierce barrage of punches and kicks that Janus was unable to dodge. He tried to block them, but the warrior of Darkness was too fast for him, and easily overtook him. It took all of Janus' energy to even _try_ and evade the sudden powerful attacks that were aimed at him.

A cry of pain escaped him as, suddenly, something like a knife dug into Janus' stomach. The white hedgehog looked down to see the sharp tip of Azazel's tail embedded in his midsection, completely impaling him, making some of Janus' own golden blood begin to flow from around the wound. Azazel wore an evil smirk on his frightening face as his tail twisted in Janus' gut, making the warrior of Light suddenly let out a choked gasp as he fell to his knees with the agony, grinding his teeth together fiercely.

"The one with the problem is _you_," Azazel growled in Janus' ear, twisting the deadly spade of his tail once more as he relished in the sound of Janus' gasps of pain and agony as the golden blood spilled around him, in stark contrast with the small bit of black blood that had fallen from Azazel's own body.

"You believe that you're at the top of the world," Azazel continued, as Janus sputtered, beginning to hack up his own gold blood as he doubled over once more in pain, unable to escape. "You think that you're the best at everything, that nothing is able to beat you. Well, I've come here to put you in your proper place—and remind you who _really_ has the power here."

He quickly withdrew his tail from Janus' body, making Janus stagger forwards as he collapsed, his blood pooling around him as he struggled to stand up. Azazel kept him on the floor with the deadly spear of his tail, digging it into the small of the young hedgehog's back. Janus fought hard to keep his screams of agony at bay.

"I'm having the time of my life," Azazel hissed down at Janus, wearing another frightening smirk on his face. "And I have your stupidity to thank for it. If you hadn't flaunted your power, I never would've found you, and I never would've had the chance to kill you." He leaned down, his voice low, sending chills up Janus' spine as Azazel finished, "Now, what is the most torturous way that I can possibly end your life?"

When Azazel suddenly seemed to have decided on a fate fitting for Janus, a familiar voice echoed around the now completely deserted arena.

"AZAZEL!" boomed the powerful voice that demanded authority, the voice of Uriel. Janus managed to look up through his haze of pain and saw all of the other warriors standing there—Uriel, Malachim, Numina, and Phoebus were all there.

"That is enough," Malachim stated, glaring at the demon with his hazel eyes, the eyes that now seemed lividly orange with his anger.

Azazel threw back his head and let out cruel, vicious, sadistic cackles, the edge of his tail digging in even more into the small of Janus' back, making him gasp with pain once again. Azazel's cold black eyes were mad, insane, as fire seemed to flicker in their depths.

"Oh, coming for the idiot's rescue, eh?" Azazel asked, and then seemed to find this completely hilarious as he laughed maniacally once more. His laughter ceased, however, when both Uriel and Malachim were standing in front of him, glaring coldly at him. Uriel, lightning fast, had gripped the demon's tail and pulled it out, making Janus hiss in another breath of pain as he felt blood begin to spurt from the wound once more. Instantly, he felt warm hands on the small of his back, and recognized Phoebus' voice.

"Janus, just stay calm," Phoebus comforted, closing his eyes as he proceeded to heal his comrade.

Numina, who was now in front of Janus, placed her hand upon his head. Instantly, the pain and agony that he was feeling as his wound was being healed began to leach away from his system, replaced with a relieving sense of numbness that he welcomed gladly. Even though Phoebus had been healing him, the wound had still burned agonizingly.

"There," Phoebus announced, removing his hands gently as the warmth dimmed from them. Janus stood up, brushing his clothes.

"Thanks," he said gratefully, running a hand through his quills absently as his other hand felt his midsection, relieved when he did not feel a gaping hole there. He had known that he was healed, but his mind had been irrational at the moment.

Numina closed her eyes as she removed her hand from his head, shaking her own head from side to side. "Janus, you're very fortunate that we were able to sense your agony and fear," she said seriously. "If we hadn't felt it, then you would've certainly died."

"Yes, Janus, Numina is right," Phoebus reprimanded him gently. "If we hadn't been close enough to you to feel the pain, then Azazel would have been able to kill you."

At the mention of the warrior of Darkness' name, Janus' eyes unconsciously darted over to where Azazel was being fiercely attacked by Uriel and Malachim, both seasoned veterans of war, the first two warriors created by Iridessa. Azazel's screams of pain sounded in the youngest warrior's ears, and he winced a bit as he turned away.

"I hope that you learned a valuable lesson today, young one," Numina told Janus firmly, looking at him with her dark blue eyes, the eyes that were serious and slightly worried about him.

Janus nodded, watching as Malachim, Uriel, and Azazel all continued their battle, the clashing of heaven and hell in a great display of bright white light and dark shadows.

"_NO!"_ Azazel shrieked, jumping away from the white eagle and echidna. Black blood was dripping all over the monster's body, and he was panting raggedly with the effort to breathe. "We will _not_ be defeated!" he snarled, and then suddenly smirked, that insanity dancing within the depths of his eyes once again as he mockingly looked at the two. Then, without a word, he disappeared in a sudden cloud of black smoke.

Malachim and Uriel exchanged a glance.

"Let him go," Malachim said. "It'll be no use trying to follow his energy, and he's been terribly beaten. That is humiliation and punishment enough, and it is not honorable to fight an already extremely weakened enemy."

Uriel nodded, and then, both he and Malachim turned to look at Janus seriously. He fought the urge to roll his eyes, knowing that he was in for a lecture.

But, as he listened to the stern voices of the eldest warriors of Light, Janus realized that he had learned something very important today, something that would probably be one of the most important things he would learn.

In battle, you had to be focused. And, if you become overconfident in yourself, it will lead to your downfall.

He had nearly paid his life for that damn mistake.

Janus vowed to himself that he would never underestimate an opponent again, never have too much confidence in himself. He had learned that very important lesson the hard way, and had no wish of repeating it once more.

**-END FLASHBACK-**

Shadow had intently been listening to the story that Janus had been saying, his ruby red eyes sparkling with his interest. He was particularly interested when Janus had described Azazel—so it seemed that The Darkness _did_ have warriors like The Light, but they were more like demons than angels.

"I learned the tough way that too much cockiness leads to your downfall," Janus finished, looking sternly at his pupil. "I know that you have plenty of pride in yourself, Shadow, and I'm not saying that's a bad thing—I'm just saying that you can't let it distract you in a battle, or else your opponent will catch you off guard, like I did with you before or like Azazel had done with me."

Shadow nodded, a grudging new respect in his eyes as he looked at his teacher.

Suddenly, Janus' eyes flicked to the right, and he wore a smirk on his face as he looked back mischievously at Shadow. "Hey, your girlfriend's coming over," he snickered a bit, sensing the presence of Thalia as she teleported over to their location.

Shadow rolled his eyes, standing up. "Please," he scoffed, "you act as if you've never had a girlfriend before."

Janus laughed, shaking his head. "Actually, I haven't," he answered honestly, turning away, "and I'm rather glad I didn't, either. Being single is just too damn exciting—settling down and having a girl is boring, in my opinion." He laughed once more, and his laughter suddenly died down into an indignant yelp of pain as a foot connected solidly with his face, leaving him sprawled on the ground.

"Having a relationship is _boring_ to you?" came the voice of Thalia from above him. He looked up into her annoyed purple eyes as her hands were on her hips, and she directed her gaze over to where Shadow was holding Aria close to him, both of the lovers simply content with holding each other. Shadow had only heard the first sentence that Janus spoke before Aria had come running up to him, and he hadn't heard the rest of what he said—but Thalia had.

"Yes," Janus smirked in reply, knowing that Thalia was especially defensive of girls who were in relationships. Each of the warriors of light had a certain section of people who they watched over—Malachim watched over the travelers, Uriel aided and protected the warriors, Numina helped mothers and young children, Phoebus taught healers and musicians, Janus helped adventuring young men do daring feats, and Thalia was the guardian of maidens who were just beginning to find love in their lives or had found love with their soul mate. In a sense, they were like gods and goddesses, each having their own powers and protecting a certain group of people.

Thalia rolled her eyes in annoyance at the immaturity of her comrade. "One of these days," she said, wearing a coy smirk now on her face, "you are going to fall for a girl, and you're going to fall _hard_."

"Over my dead body," the white hedgehog mumbled under his breath, grinning childishly. He laughed as Thalia lunged once more for him, but he was prepared for her attack and easily blocked her half-hearted punch at his face. This commenced a short, mock battle between the two good friends, who were closest in age compared to any of The Light's warriors, and the youngest as well. They sometimes acted like immature teenagers (in the sights of the elder warriors), which was being expressed now. No one would have guessed, at the sight of the two brawling playfully, that they were actually two deities created by Light herself. They just seemed like two average teens having a mock fight.

Seeing her mentor acting so immaturely, Aria laughed a bit as Shadow turned to see the show.

"At times like this, they don't even seen that different from us," she smiled up at her boyfriend.

Shadow smirked. "True," he snickered, watching as Janus was being overcome by Thalia's graceful movements and attacks, often being mislead by her movements as they continued to pretend to fight.

Eventually, the two stopped brawling when Janus had jokingly given up, stating that the attacks made by Thalia were simply too much for him to possibly hope to handle. Thalia wore a triumphant look on her face.

"Choose who you mock carefully, Janus," she told him with a joyful laugh. "Next time, I won't be so easy on you."

"I let you win," Janus replied, pretending to brush it off nonchalantly as he rolled his eyes and hid his smirk.

"_Suuuuuure_ you did," Thalia retorted sarcastically, her look saying that she did not believe a word he had just said. The annoyed look on Janus' face after she said that made her laugh. She always enjoyed slightly antagonizing Janus—he was just so much _fun_ to tease.

Then, she realized that they had used up enough time from the day. She needed to continue training Aria, and Janus had his own pupil to teach.

"Aria!" she called over to the sea-green cat. At the sound of her teacher's voice, Aria turned her head and met the lovely white cat's violet eyes. "It's time for us to go," Thalia said.

Nodding, Aria quickly gave Shadow one last, tender kiss on the lips. "I love you," she whispered to him, and he returned the sentiment gently, his ruby red eyes gazing deep into her lovely magenta ones.

Then, she unwrapped her arms from around his neck and went over to Thalia. The female warrior of Light nodded gently to her charge, and placed a hand on the younger cat's shoulder.

"Bye, Shadow, I'll see you tomorrow!" Aria called, and Shadow favored her with a smirk. Then, the two females gently faded away back to their training site.

Once they had left, Janus turned to Shadow. "Come on, we must continue training," he said.

"Wait," Shadow suddenly said, looking thoughtful. "Is it true that The Darkness has warriors like The Light does? Such as, was Azazel supposed to be your equivalent with The Darkness' side?"

"That's what we believe," Janus replied gravely. "The Darkness has created warriors just like our creator—we believe that there are six of them, just like there are six of us. Thankfully, each of us is making sure that we are not flaunting our power, so that we will not attract their attention—as I told you, I learned that the hard way."

Shadow nodded, turning his head away for a few moments. More monsters than the umbrae and penumbrae? One that even managed to nearly kill a warrior of Light? His mentor admitting that he had done something wrong?

The ebony hedgehog then smirked a bit. Things were getting more interesting by the hour.

**BACK WITH SONIC AND BLAZE…**

With a yawn, Sonic's emerald green eyes slowly fluttered open as he woke up. Feeling the soft mattress of the bed under him, he grinned as he looked down at the lavender cat in his arms, what was truly keeping the two warm under the blanket.

Last night had been one of the most incredible experiences in the blue hedgehog's entire life. He had realized there were always exceptions to every belief. He had originally thought that he would never have a girlfriend, never truly love a girl, because it would only slow him down.

But Blaze had changed all that. She was an entirely different story altogether. She was not one of those girls who needed a boy to protect her—she was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, as she was always quick to point out to others who believed she needed protection, such as the guards. But she was still someone who Sonic could take care of, still someone he could help. She was lonely, and Sonic could take care of that loneliness, could protect her from whatever forces he could, while not having her completely depend on him like a crutch. She was a girl who could match him for speed, who would fight alongside him in battles, who had been through everything he had been through, and yet could still be comforted by him.

The night before, they had confessed their love for each other, which had resulted in passionate kissing—but nothing else, mind you. The two were simply content with knowing that the other loved them with all of their heart, and would engage in more passionate activities when they both felt ready for it, when they both felt it was the right time. Not yet, though.

After they had experienced what they felt was utter bliss, they had simply stood on the beach, with Blaze resting her head on Sonic's chest as he held her close to him, his arms wrapped around her. Eventually, she had fallen asleep. Knowing that the guards, and probably Ares as well, would be suspicious if they found out that the both of them had spent the night out on the beach, Sonic had gently held Blaze in his arms as he picked her up like a baby, her knees draping over one of his arms ad the other gently held her back, and had dashed back to the palace. There, he had placed Blaze in her bed, and he couldn't bring himself to leave her. Not that night. So he had slipped under the purple covers that made up Blaze's bed and held her close as he, too, fell asleep.

The sun was lightly streaming in through the purple curtains in her room. It gently came into the room and washed over the features of Blaze, making her lavender fur seem to have a shimmer, a sort of mystical sheen to it. She still slept peacefully in his arms, breathing slowly and evenly. Right at that moment, Sonic knew that he was the luckiest damn guy in the world to have finally found his true match in life.

Suddenly, Blaze's eyes began to flicker open, her eyelashes gently beating against Sonic's chest as he looked down at her. With a small yawn, she opened her beautiful golden eyes fully, blinking a bit. At first, shock was in her gaze, but then she smiled when she recognized the face that was grinning down at her.

"Hey, Blaze," Sonic told her.

"Good morning, Sonic," she replied, snuggling into him a bit more. She had never felt so…complete in her life as she did now. At first, she had believed that she was destined to be alone, to never have a companion by her side, but now, she stood corrected. Sonic was always the one, she just hadn't realized it until very recently.

"Sleep well?" he asked.

"Perfectly," was her answer as she smiled once more. Sonic wore his trademark grin on his face, and then he began to gently kiss her—going along her neck, along her jaw, to her cheek. At his gentle touch, Blaze actually began to purr—something that she _very_ rarely ever did.

Eventually, though, Blaze pushed him away. Disappointment flickered within his emerald green eyes, and she laughed a bit as she flicked his nose.

"Sonic, we have to get up," she told him, smiling. "If we don't, then people are going to get suspicious, and I don't want anyone simply barging in here on their own accord."

Reluctantly, Sonic let go of her, saying, "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Blaze grinned at the blatant disappointment on his face, and she went over and gently kissed his cheek. "It's going to be all right," she told him, smiling. She had never remembered a time that she smiled so much, felt completely on top of the world, that she was able to tackle and obstacle standing in her path. But, then again, she had never remembered a time when she had fallen in love. No, Sonic the Hedgehog was definitely her first, and, Blaze silently hoped, her only love.

Quickly, Sonic dashed in for one last kiss with Blaze, wrapping his arms around her small waist as he gently crossed the small space between their lips. Blaze eagerly responded to his kiss, her arms wrapping around his neck as he held her close, both of them in complete and utter bliss.

Sonic eventually drew away from her, looking deep into her lovely eyes.

"I love you," he whispered. The words felt so right, so perfect, that he did not feel any embarrassment after he spoke them.

Blaze felt something flutter within her at those words—no matter how many times she would hear them from him, she doubted that she would ever grow tired of listening to them, because, as she looked into his eyes, she was able to tell that they were true, not meaningless words.

"I love you, too," she replied quietly. Sonic grinned, squeezing her hand gently, before he finally dashed away, sending her a quick, conspiring wink before he ran down the many hallways of the castle.

Blaze smiled, shaking her head fondly at Sonic's antics. Why did he sometimes act like such a child, without a care in the world? It was a mystery for the ages, but she never cared about solving that mystery. It was what made Sonic himself.

She was unsure if she was ever going to be able to erase the small smile on her lips that day as she gently made her bed. Then, she made her way down to the library, deciding to do a little more reading, since her royal duties were done, unless Gardon told her more. Her small smile was unable to be dimmed as she walked down the halls.

Unbeknownst to either Sonic or Blaze, a set of dark gray eyes flecked with blood red were watching them from the shadows, having heard every single word of their conversation. A small snarl emanated from the figure hidden in the darkness, the protective cloak of the blackness.

"Look at what you've done to the royal line, Blaze," Ares snarled fiercely. "Falling in love with a mere commoner who you need to protect you. You're a disgrace to our royal heritage." Then, a cruel look came over his features—almost a smirk, but not quite. Much more malicious, meaning so much more ill intent than a mere smirk would. "Well, I'll have to do something about that, then, won't I?"

Then, he walked away, knowing exactly how to put his brilliant plan into action. Blaze didn't deserve any of the happiness that she was given. She had stolen his rights as prince.

So, he was going to take away the small flicker of joy that she had managed to find in her life, ripping it away from her while he forced her to watch.

That cruel look came over his face again. He truly enjoyed watching people suffer. After all, how come _they_ deserved to be happy when _he_ had seen his mother viciously ripped away from him, while he was powerless to do anything about it? How come Blaze had to find happiness, while he still found agony and pain, never finding true happiness?

If he wasn't allowed to find any, then his cousin wasn't allowed to, either.

**OVER WITH URIEL, KNUCKLES, AND ROUGE…**

"This is _boring_," Rouge announced as she watched Uriel and Knuckles fight relentlessly.

"Shut…up…Rouge!" Knuckles said, each word separated by a grunt as he either dodged an attack by the white echidna or retaliated with his own punch or kick.

The white bat let out an aggravated sigh, sitting on a rock as she brought one knee up to her chin, watching with disinterest as the two continued to spar. A little while before, Uriel had told Rouge that he would like to stop training both Rouge and Knuckles at the same time, and only focus on the red echidna's fighting skills. Rouge, who had been growing tired, eagerly accepted. Now, she was bored as hell with nothing else to do.

"How long can you guys keep on _doing_ that?" Rouge asked. Uriel and Knuckles hadn't stopped fighting for about three hours straight. To entertain herself while they fought, she had actually looked up in the sky and tried to figure out what some of the shapes of the clouds were. However, she wasn't exactly in an imaginative mood that day, and had given up after she had seen about forty clouds that all simply looked like cotton balls. Then, she had flown around in lazy circles to explore the terrain, and was not at al pleased when all she saw for miles and miles were rocks, rocks, and, oh, guess what?...more rocks. After _that_, she had tried to poke fun at Knuckles, because she always found it fun to tease him, but, when she realized that it only pissed Knuckles off and made Uriel agitated, she gave up on that as well.

Needless to say, Rouge was running out of ideas on how to keep herself from dying of boredom.

When she gained no reply to her question, Rouge let out an irritated "hmph" as she jumped up, flying again. Well, if the boys were going to be idiots, then she was going to have to entertain herself _somehow_. Maybe…

A mischievous look came over her pretty features as she selected two rocks, fairly heavy, that would definitely cause damage. Smirking, she threw them up and down in her palm, feeling their weight in her hands, before she turned around, grinning. Quickly, before either of the boys could see her, she threw the rocks, aiming right for their heads.

Two _THONK!_ sounds were heard, and Rouge snickered, quickly hiding behind a tan boulder. She turned to look at what she had done, and was grinning.

Knuckles and Uriel had abruptly stopped their sparring. The red echidna seemed to be positively fuming as a large bump from the rock flamed up on his skull, and Uriel was positively dumbfounded as he reached up to touch his head, where a similar inflamed bump was on his own head.

Their expressions were so damn hilarious that Rouge was struggling not to die from laughter now as she held it in, her hands clamping tightly over her mouth as she prevented the laughs from leaving her with very strict self-discipline.

"_ROUGE!"_ Knuckles instantly shouted, enraged, knowing that the damned white bat was the only one who could've done this. His right eye was twitching, his fists clenched, his teeth grinding together, the brief moment right after the outburst before the even longer outburst came.

"COME OUT OF HIDING, YOU DAMN COWARD! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SO SCARED OF, YOU LITTLE _BITCH_? COME OUT HERE SO I CAN BEAT THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF YOU!"

It was too much. Instantly, Rouge began to crack up, falling down to the dusty ground as she clutched her middle, tears streaming down her cheeks in her mirth as she laughed uncontrollably. This only made Knuckles angrier.

"YOU THINK THIS IS _FUNNY_?" he demanded.

"Yes," Rouge managed to get out, before she broke down in peals of laughter once more. He always blew up over the littlest things and screamed the most hilarious things in return. Of course, his hot temper was definitely one of the reasons that she liked him.

"I SWEAR, I—" Knuckles was cut off from his rant by Uriel, who actually betrayed a small laugh at Rouge's antics.

"It seems that we completely forgot about Rouge, my boy," the off-white echidna said, grinning at his pupil. "It's probably a mistake that we will not make again."

Surprised, Knuckles' violet eyes turned to his teacher. He hadn't expected Uriel to actually find this situation _humorous_. In fact, Uriel seemed to barely have an existing sense of humor at all.

"You see, Rouge has just taught us something else very important in battle," Uriel said, nodding to himself. At the mention of her name so much, Rouge managed to control her laughter, looking at the two male echidnas as she came out of her hiding spot, knowing that Knuckles wouldn't actually go through with his threats to kill her.

It made her smirk a bit, knowing that the worst things would ever come to was him throwing a punch at her, and her retaliating. When she gained the upper hand, however, she often became playful. Usually, when she had the higher position, she often engaged Knuckles in a sudden, intense make-out-fest, and things usually went off track from there…

She smirked again at the memory.

"You see, my boy," Uriel began, looking at Knuckles, "we always have to remember to stay on our guard. Rouge here showed us a perfect example."

"I did?" Rouge asked, looking at the ageless echidna in awe. And all _she_ wanted to do was piss a certain red echidna off, and now she was being complimented for whacking both of them on the sides of their heads with rocks. Things never ceased to amaze her at times like this.

"Even though it may seem that you are fighting only one enemy, there may very well be more than one," Uriel told his charge, a smile actually playing with his normally serious features. "Because both of us were locked in intense battle, having completely forgotten about Rouge, she took the perfect moment to strike, catching both of us off our guard. In battle, you always have to make sure to watch your surroundings, and ignoring your other potential opponents can easily be a very fatal mistake."

Knuckles nodded solemnly, listening to each word his teacher had to say with the utmost attentiveness. Uriel had gained Knuckles' respect when he showed that he wasn't going to screw around with Knuckles in training, and always pushed Knuckles to his limit. The way that he didn't hold back anything to "protect" Knuckles from getting hurt was always something that the young echidna respected about Uriel.

"Now," Uriel announced, standing up once more. "Let's continue our—"

Abruptly, he stopped, his sharp gray eyes instantly darting to the side, and he quickly turned around. When he didn't speak, his eyes fixed on something in the distance that he seemed to be focusing immensely on, a sudden feeling of dread washed over Knuckles and Rouge. The white bat went over to her boyfriend on instinct, and he wrapped his arm around her waist almost impulsively, trying to slightly shield her body with his own. Sure, they fought a lot, but they truly cared for each other, and Knuckles would be sure to protect Rouge, who was significantly weaker than him.

Suddenly, Rouge let out a shriek when a shadowy figure appeared before them, clutching Knuckles tighter. Knuckles looked forward, his violet eyes serious as the shadow began to take a much more solid form than the umbrae and penumbrae did, and Uriel's eyes widened the slightest bit.

_No…_was the single word that went through his mind. But how? How could The Darkness regain so much power in so little time…?

The dark shadow finally became solid, a solid figure, completely hideous and beautiful at the same time.

Standing in front of the three was a coal-black falcon. His onyx feathers were tipped with silver, glinting a bit in the afternoon sunlight, giving off the appearance that they were razor sharp, like knives. Sharp, lethal talons were golden in color, the long, curved claws seeming even more lethal because of the eerie glint that they had in the light of the great, life-giving star. The beautiful feathers were splotched every now and then with a dark gray color, speckled randomly throughout the feathers of the great bird, which was as large as quite a few houses, blocking out a bit of the sunlight from its great shadow. His head was surrounded by a few feathers, almost encircling him like a lion's mane, but not quite. Those feathers were gray and black, alternating their color in a steady pattern of obsidian and silver. His curved, sharp beak was also golden, and its color was so rich that it seemed that both the beak and the talons were made from the pure metal. His eyes were angled and threatening, colored dark, dark red, the color of freshly spilled blood. The position that the falcon was in made it seem like he was ready to attack, with his body leaning slightly forward over his long, powerful, muscular legs, and his wings extended to their full length—easily more than a dozen feet in their wingspan. Those red eyes seemed to glare right into the souls of the three who were standing in front of him.

Uriel broke the silence by letting out a growl, making the falcon whip his head, using his slightly long neck to cock his head to the side, setting his terrible gaze upon the eldest one of the small group.

"Lucifer," Uriel snarled out, unintentionally revealing his sharp canines.

"Uriel," the falcon, who Uriel had called Lucifer, spat out as well, as if it was the most disgusting thing in the world. His voice was, surprisingly, both melodious and grating at the same time, beautiful and terrible, much like his appearance. It was as if his voice was musical, and yet, there were dissonant sounds within his vocal chords as well.

"What're _you_ doing here?" Uriel demanded, glaring with his gray eyes, which were now steely cold, right back at the falcon.

Lucifer reared his head back, letting out a strange sound between a squawk, a scream, and a laugh. It was hard to tell which he was doing, however. "Oh, you think that my master is so weak that he wouldn't be able to form us?" he asked Uriel tauntingly, turning his gaze so that he could once again meet Uriel's gaze.

"After the beating The Light gave him, I'm surprised that he didn't go running into hiding, trying to lick his own wounds before he used his energy in creating you," Uriel shot back.

Lucifer glared at him once more, his great, majestic wings flapping up and down a bit, causing a small breeze to rush through the barren landscape. "The Darkness is more powerful than you can ever imagine. However, he is unable to feed off the energy of this world anymore, because of what The Light—" he spat those two words out with even more disdain and revulsion than he had with Uriel's own name "—has done, placing a protective seal over this world."

"You know that you've lost, Lucifer," Uriel said. "You may as well so scurrying back to your master."

Lucifer let out a shriek, a terrible sound that was like fingernails raking across a chalkboard, harshly, as he drew his great head back. Uriel actually smirked in response to his reaction.

"You think that you're so powerful, simply because you were made by the precious Light?" Lucifer hissed. "You're a weakling compared to our power."

"I doubt that," Uriel replied, quickly and confidently.

Lucifer let out another enraged hiss, and then swiveled his large head in the direction of the two teenagers. Knuckles instantly tensed, his grip on Rouge inadvertently becoming tighter as she looked at the monster with wide turquoise eyes that were actually betraying the smallest amount of fear.

"Ha!" Lucifer let out a large, barking laugh, sounding terrible and also musical, the way that his voice always seemed to be. "Is _this_ what your precious Light is resorting to as her warriors? Mere mortals? How imbecilic can one be?" This was followed by another cruel laugh.

"Do _not_ mock my creator," Uriel nearly snarled, his anger making him nearly bristle with rage.

"I have a right to mock her. My master is not _nearly_ as idiot as she is, apparently, to actually recruit mere mortals to do his bidding!" Lucifer laughed once again.

Uriel was growling dangerously, glaring fiercely at Lucifer. The great falcon-like creature continued to laugh, seeming slightly off, not all there, as if he was mad.

"Do you wish to test your strength? Are you so eager to lose your life?" Uriel asked him, snarling. "You have insulted The Light, Iridessa. For that, you shall pay _dearly_."

This made Lucifer cackle even more. "It should be _I_ asking _you_ that question, Uriel. How many times have your precious warriors mocked my master? How many times have you all insulted The Darkness, Cimmerian, and called us _weak_? _You're_ the one who's going to pay."

"Knuckles, Rouge," Uriel said hurriedly, looking towards his two charges. "Find someplace to hide. This battle is beyond you. Do not come until I ask for your assistance."

"I can't simply _leave_ you!" Knuckles objected heatedly.

"Knuckles, your courage and bravery are to be admired," Uriel told him, "but this battle is one that is too far ahead, even for you, right at this moment. But, you shall get your chance to fight, I promise you."

"Why are you stalling, Uriel?" Lucifer asked, cackling evilly. "It seemed that you were readily eager to insult my master and my comrades before. Where have your meaningless words gone?"

"Oh, they weren't meaningless," Uriel growled out. "I meant every single damn word I said, you coward."

Lucifer's twisted sense of humor disappeared in that instant, his terrible eyes, the color of crimson blood just spilled on the battlefield, became harder and more intense as they glared once more at the echidna, his attention diverted from Knuckles and Rouge. Knuckles took this time to dodge behind a boulder, bringing Rouge with him, making sure that they were concealed. He hated running away like a damn coward, but it was what his master said. And something about Lucifer made Knuckles uneasy, which did not promote him to try and attack him.

"Uriel, choose your words wisely. Do you wish to ignite my anger? So eager to reach your death?" the great falcon challenged, letting out another hiss.

"_I_ won't be the one dying today," Uriel replied, getting into a battle stance. "I'm not sure if I would say the same if I was in your position, however."

Lucifer reared back, letting out another terrible scream. He pushed himself off of the dusty ground, using his great, powerful wings to lift his body off of the ground, creating huge gusts of wind below him. His anger knew no bounds as his shrieks echoed on the barren landscape, the dust swirling around with each beat of his strong wings as he flew up, nearly hiding the sun.

Then, he began to dive down, his talons extended, screaming once more in rage as he lunged at Uriel.

**Once again, I'M NOT DEAD! Yay, happy day! And happy New Year, everybody!**

**So, anyways, here's my list of excuses (if you honestly wanna know): School. That's it. School. So much damn homework and all that bullshit, ya know? And also, remember how I said I have writer's block? Well, that writer's block has suddenly manifested from a small block to a huge-ass brick wall that is damn nearly impenetrable, if you get what I'm saying. Like, around the middle of this chappie, I suddenly went blank and didn't try to write again for another two months because I had no flippin clue what to do. And also…hey, that's really it. Sorry, no more excuses. Please don't kill me for the cliffy!**

**Oh, and also, for you guys who don't know, I've started up another story—Academy for Mutants! It's another Sonic fanfic, so, if you have the time and like this one, then please give that one a chance!**

**Anyways, I've wasted enough time! Once again, I have no idea when the next update will be—if it'll be within two weeks or if it's gonna be in another four months like how long THIS update took. Well, I hope that you guys don't mind, and that this is enough. Please review, everyone! I really enjoy hearing what you think! :)**


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